1 billion smartphones in 2013 - massive opportunities for Delphi and C++Builder developers

Several analyst firms predicted that by 2013 more than 1 billion smartphones would be shipped. ABI Research said the number would be 1.4 billion smartphones would be active around the world. The 1 billion smartphones shipped number happened, according to the latest IDC smartphone research business wire release. Quoted from the IDC release: "According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 1,004.2 million smartphones worldwide, up 38.4% from the 725.3 million units in 2012." Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said "“Android finished 2013 strongly, showing year-on-year share growth across 12 major global markets including Europe, USA, Latin America, China and Japan. Apple has lost share in most countries compared with this time last year, but importantly it has held strong shares in key markets including 43.9% in USA, 29.9% in Great Britain and 19.0% in China."

According to the IDC release, the top 5 smartphone vendors for 2013 (by units) are: Samsung, Apple, Huawei, LG and Lenovo. You can find charts and tables inside the IDC release at http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24645514.

Not sure about the 1 billion number? Canalys says the number of smartphones shipped in 2013 was 998 million. But who's really counting the difference in the numbers? Android smartphones have greater than 80% of the market share if you add all of the Android vendor phone shipments together. What about Microsoft Windows phones? Canalys says that 31.2 million units shipped in 2013.

Delphi XE5 supports iOS and Android development. C++Builder XE5 update 2 supports iOS. C++Builder for Android is on our RAD Studio public road map and is actively being developed.



You can get started today with C++Builder for iOS and you'll be miles ahead of other C++ developers.

C++Builder for iOS Features

• C++Builder ARM optimized compiler


• Phone and tablet development for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad


• Pixel-perfect native UI controls


• The FM Application Platform for iOS


• dbExpress data access for InterBase and SQLite


• DataSnap client


• Device service and sensor support (gyro, GPS, camera and accelerometer)


• Mobile form designer


• Access to iOS APIs

Why choose C++Builder for your mobile app development needs?

• Use your C++ language skills, knowledge and source code to create iOS apps


• Deliver native compiled apps for the fastest performance


• Develop for iOS, Windows and OS X using a single IDE, framework and codebase


• Create iOS apps that connect with enterprise data and REST services

What these smartphone numbers mean for developers

What does the record number of smartphone shipments in 2013 mean? for developers, especially our Delphi and C++Builder customers? You have more opportunities to build, deploy and sell applications using Object Pascal and C++ using one project and one codebase for Windows, Mac OS X, iOS and Android.