Online phone retailer mobilefun.co.uk has claimed mobile handsets will become cheaper in 2012, possibly leading to an increase in the number of people using them to order goods online for UK delivery.

Mark Riley, head of marketing for Mobilefun.co.uk, said he expected previously obscure phone manufacturers like ZTE and Huawei to come to the fore in the new year.

He compared this to the sudden rise to prominence experienced by Samsung in the past.

Companies like these creating handsets under their own brands will lead to tumbling prices, according to Mr Riley.

"So while it's maybe £500 now, you can get phones for under £100 that are half decent in the future," added the head of marketing.

Figures published recently by the British Retail Consortium and Google showed an unprecedented level of online Christmas shopping took place on smartphones and tablets over 2011, with the number of queries about retail sites carried out on these devices increasing by 169 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
 

Author:  Paul Burn