Smartphone connections sky-rocket. According to the consultancy Analysys Mason, there will be 3.9 billion smartphone connections worldwide in 2018 - in other words, an increase of 136% in five years. Non-smartphone will nevertheless continue to account for the majority of handset connections worldwide for the next four years and smartphones' share of connections will reach only 52% in 2018. The gap between mature and developing markets will widen. In most developed countries, the smartphone market is already approaching saturation, while in others it is still only nascent. In developed countries, 76%, 82% and 88% of telephone connections will be smartphones in Western Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific respectively in 2018. From 2015 the sale of smartphones will drop in Northern Europe and the USA. Analysys Mason also underlines the excellent situation of Chinese smartphone manufacturers, which will dominate the global market with 1.3 billion smartphones sold in the next five years for a price between US$ 50 and US$ 100. The Chinese market is thus expected to generate US$ 65-130 billion over this period. (IL)