"Mobile is enabling new forms of entertainment, communication, media, and commerce; communication apps, e-commerce apps, and mobile payments are also demonstrating staggering growth," according to a well-know U.S. technology and business news website. The report points out that China will be one of major drivers of the sales of smartphones.

Henry Blodget, the CEO of Business Insider, released the latest report on "The Future of Mobile" on March 21 2014. The report provides an overview of the global mobile industry.

Biggest opportunities now in China and India

The report shows the development of mobile Internet representing a general trend. On the hardware side, according to global Internet connected device shipments PCs have a decreasing market share, and sales of smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and wearable devices are increasing dramatically. Almost 1 billion smartphones were shipped in 2013, and Samsung’s shipments edged into a lead over Apple.

In the smartphone sector, the report says the adoption cycle is entering a latter phase. One aspect is that smartphone sales have overtaken dumb phones; another is that the smartphone market in developed countries is nearing maturity - in the U.S. for example, smartphone penetration has reached 65%, and growth is slowing.

"The biggest opportunities are now in China and India” the report states. Smartphone sales in 2014 will be driven by new users in emerging markets, especially in the two most populous countries, China and India. Data shows that China is twice the size of the U.S. market, and the second largest market for apps.

The report also forecasts that the average global selling price for smartphones will keep dropping.

Mobile advertising "Money follows eyeballs"

According to the report, mobile is bringing new forms of entertainment, communication, media, and commerce, and is creating great opportunities and challenges. China’s IT giant Tencent has revealed that the highest number of concurrent users on its QQ instant messaging service reached a new record of 200 million on the night of April 11, and more than 70% of concurrent users log in though its QQ mobile app.

Mobile advertising still lags behind consumers’ time-spend, but with eyeballs moving to mobile, money will follow. Data indicates that the cost of mobile advertising in the U.S. is increasing rapidly.

Android is the undisputed winner of the platform war

The report says Android is winning the platform war. The data shows 80% of smartphones run the Android system, and 60% of tablets use Android system. 60% of all new computing devices run Android, and then Windows and Apple.

The article is edited and translated from 《美国《移动的未来》报告：智能手机最大机遇在中国, source: People's Daily Online