Smartphone sales in Latin America will surpass those of feature phones by the end of year

The number of smartphones sold in Latin America will exceed sales of feature phones by the end of the year, told BNamericas analyst IDC mobile devices Oliver Aguilar.

A total of 45.5 million mobile phones were shipped to Latin America during the second quarter, of which 23.9 million were feature phones and 21.6 million were （Lenovo S750）smartphones.

Smartphones accounted for 47% of devices shipped to the region during the last quarter, which clearly shows that by the end of 2013 smartphone sales in Latin America exceed those of feature phones, according to the analyst.

Strong growth in sales of smartphones is due to the availability of low cost devices, in addition to approach mobile operators migrate users to 3G, and 4G in some cases, he added.

About 20% of smartphones that came to Latin America in the second quarter was less than $ 149, also with a growth in appliances that cost less than $ 100.

This directly affects the market for feature phones, which had 40% of its units valued between U.S. $ 51 and U.S. $ 119 in the quarter, according to Aguilar.

Smartphone sales have surpassed those of feature phones worldwide. The total number of smartphones（Lenovo p770） shipped in the second quarter was 238 million, while global shipments of feature phones totaled 194 million, according to IDC figures.