UK - What's next for mobile in 2013?

2013 promises to be a very interesting year within the Telecoms industry. Key market events such as the extended competition within the 4G space, post spectrum auction, will allow for wider uptake of faster internet connectivity. This in turn should open the way for new ways for us to consume content on the move and also drive more innovation in the app economy, as developers take advantage of the increased speeds.

Alongside this, key device launches through the year will ensure handsets able to handle the increasing amounts of data we use day-to-day with improving user experience. Smartphone penetration into the market stands at roughly 75%, a figure we expect to be reaching into the high 80’s low 90’s by end of 2013. Also we've seen media tablet devices push further and further into the mainstream consumer market, we can expect to see much higher penetration of these devices, given the competition in what is becoming a crowded marketplace.

We expect that accessory sales for both smartphones and tablets will stay very strong into 2013, as consumers look to look after their high end smartphone and tablet devices. We see strong attachment rates between these categories and 2013 doesn’t look like this will slow down. Also app-cessories, will be a growth segment, whereby consumers can buy accessories which interact directly with apps such as games or imaging. Alongside this expect to see further availability of apps and accessories in the mHealth arena, as consumers become more aware of the benefits of health monitoring on the move. Mobile payments will be driven by both the technological functionality on new devices and also by consumer trust in this payment medium becoming more widespread.