Higher Resolution
US-based research firm Strategy Analytics reported on April 21 that 25.8 million units of 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) mobile devices are expected to be sold next year. The number amounts to 1.4 percent of the projected sales figure for all smartphones in 2015 (1.968 billion units).
By region, the Asia-Pacific Region (9.4 million units), North America (7.2 million units), and Western Europe (5.4 million units) are predicted to report stellar sales figures. The annual sales figure for UHD phones is likely to reach 100 million units in 2017 and more than 200 million units in 2018.
The density of the screen for UHD mobile phones is projected to be much higher than that of UHD TVs, given that a 40-inch model is the smallest among UHD TVs, and a 6-inch model is currently the largest among UHD smartphones. The 40-inch panel of the 4K UHD TV has a pixel density of 110 pixels per inch (ppi), but the pixel density of the 6-inch 4K UHD smartphone amounts to as much as 734 ppi.
The electronics industry believes that if smartphones are released with higher resolution, high-resolution videos such as movies and high-resolution mobile games will be in the limelight. The demand for an advance in mobile communications technology that can transmit 4k UHD videos is also expected to increase.
Market research firm NPD DisplaySearch predicts that 41 million UHD smartphones will be sold in 2014, which represents 3.4 percent of total smartphones expected to be sold worldwide this year.