Europe > Eastern Europe > Hungary > Smartphone sales buzz in Hungary

Hungary: Smartphone sales buzz in Hungary

2012/06/21

Small, entrepreneurial companies like Smartphone Hungary Ltd are aiming to take advantage of the smartphone segment's feverish sales. Like other specialist Hungarian firms, it aims to make its name in sales and marketing, focusing on a range of mainly mobile consumer electronic products, auto ID and digital signage solutions.

Such companies are opening showrooms and sales offices aiming to catch the craze for buying the latest and most attractive models, with phone brand firms hiring such agents to spread the word about their products.

Hence, for example, Smartphone Hungary represents brands in the country such as Becker Navigation, Viewmedia products and Cellular Line accessories.

The overall consumer electronics device market is set to hit US$2.4 billion this year and is projected at US$3 billion in 2016, according to US firm MarketResearch.com.

Expected rising incomes, product innovation and youthful demographic trends are set to outweigh the effects of the European economic crisis, fiscal austerity and tight credit conditions, the research firm suggests.

Small digital devices have actually become a fact of everyday life for younger Hungarians, so are hugely in demand. Their size is in an inverse proportion to the number of its functions, so that youngsters using smartphones are able to phone and browse the Internet, use a voice recorder, an MP3 player, a camera, a GPS, an alarm clock, a torch and a video camera - or some of those at the same time.

The pace and the intensity of demand are instructive. The NRC Gadget Index shows smartphones, netbooks, tablets and e-book readers are considered the most trendy and useful to the main market focus group, being young men between the ages of 18 and 29.

Smartphone penetration is expected to increase by 4% in the next three months based on buyers' strategies. Another 2% of the likely shoppers are set to change their existing smartphones for new, smarter ones, while netbooks, tablets and e-book readers are expected to increase by only 1.1%.

Other research, conducted by GfK Hungary, shows there was a 3% increase in mobile phone sales last year. The most popular were the smartphones, for which sales increased 67% compared to the year before.

Experts say that this year 22% of all the digital devices will come from smartphone sales, suggesting lower returns from LCD TVs, computers, digital cameras, tablets and office equipment.

In Q4 last year, 44% of all mobile phones sold were smart. That's a 63% increase compared to Q4, 2010.

The average price of ordinary mobile phones in Hungary is at US$56 per unit, compared to US$217 for Android phones and US$870 for iPhones.

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