Smartphones are hot in Brazil. While the total mobile phone market dropped 16% in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period of 2011, smartphone sales rose 77%. Feature phone sales decreased 29%. The Brazilian cellphone market reached 27.3 million units sold during the first six months of 2012, according to a recent IDC study. Of the total, 6.8 million were smartphones, and 20.5 million were so-called feature phones.

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Bruno Freitas, market analyst at IDC Brazil, noted that the trend shows smartphones gaining an increased share of the market. According to Freitas, manufacturers have increased their model portfolio to focus more on smartphone devices. A drop in smartphone prices has contributed to the rise of their popularity.

IDC expects that the total market for mobile phones will reach 62 million units  in 2012, a number which is 8% lower than that reported last year. Of this total, IDC predicts 26% will be smartphones and 74% feature phones. Devices with operating systems are expected to increase 82% and traditional handsets down 21% compared to 2011.

IDC also forecasts that smartphones will represent 57% of the total mobile market in Brazil by 2015.

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• IDC forecasts 2.5 million tablet sales in Brazil this year