The growth in smartphone usage has been pretty evident here. According to Wall Street Nation, currently, about six out of every 10 mobile connections taken in this region are on smartphones. This is compared to less than one out of 10, six years ago. A plethora of factors, including economic improvements, a growing young population as well as more accessibility to various online services are expected to spur smartphone growth further here in the coming years.
Samsung Electronics has been at the forefront of conquering this market and at present, it holds a dominant position in as many as six countries including Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Mexico. Apple, meanwhile, has recently been aggressively pushing its products in this region, and some of it is actually bearing fruit. The Wharton School has recently stated that iPhone devices are seeing a higher growth in Latin America, compared to its rival brands. In fact, Apple is likely to open a flagship store in Mexico City by next year.
Apart from these giants, a couple of smaller companies also have their focus fixed on Latin America. These include Cool Holdings (IFON), smartphone firm Transsion Holdings and China Mobile Games & Entertainment. We are sure there’s more coming up.