Emerging tech set to drive China smartphone growth
IDC forecasts smartphone sales to reach 420 million in 2014, driven by 4G connectivity and dual OS capabilities
 
Chinaâs smartphone market is set to grow 19.8% year-on-year driven by emerging and trending technologies, a new report by International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates.
The research firmâs China Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker forecasts that smartphone shipments in the country will reach 420 million in 2014, but will not reach the same 63.6% growth rate achieved in 2013.
The slowdown is to be caused by an increase in smartphone penetration and the comparatively high demands telecommunication firms in the country have now placed on hardware suppliers.
Smartphones comprising 5-5.5 inch HD screens and quad-core, high-frequency processors are now considered standard and IDC China senior analyst James Yan said the number of new models entering the market will provide consumers with more options.
âMobile phone vendors will need to adjust their strategies constantly to meet the needs of telecom operators,â Yan said.
Growth in the market will instead be driven by emerging and trending technologies, with capabilities like 4G connectivity and dual operating systems forecast to become popular over the course of the year.
Startup mobile developer Geeksphone is to release a dual Android/Firefox smartphone â dubbed Revolution â later this year.
IDC also predicts that burgeoning NFC payment technology â long rumoured to be on Appleâs shortlist for future iPhone technologies â will begin to emerge in 2014 and that 2k screen resolutions with low-temperature poly-silicon technology will begin to be adopted by high-end devices.