Apple seen holding average smartphone selling prices stable
Apple’s global smartphone market share is expected to slip over the next five years as the company focuses on maintaining average selling prices at the expense of gaining users in fast-growing emerging markets. Market research firm IDC says Apple (AAPL) will continue to be second banana to Google (GOOG) Android-based smartphone vendors, led by Samsung, through 2018. In a report out Wednesday, IDC forecast Apple’s iPhone to claim 13.7% of the smartphone market in 2018, down from 14.8% this year. Android vendors are expected to grab 77.6% of the market in 2018, down from 80.2% in 2014. Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows Phone is a distant third, but its share of the smartphone market is seen growing to 6.4% in 2018 from 3.5% this year. IDC predicts that smartphone average selling prices will drop at a compound annual rate of 4.5% from 2013 through 2018. It sees Google Android handset prices…