Looking ahead to 2016, Edward Lin, senior industry analyst with MIC, forecasts that the global smartphone shipment will reach 1.53 billion units in total, growing at 7.2% year-on-year. However, key growth drivers are no longer from international brands like Samsung and Apple but from other local hidden champions in emerging countries.

"Local champions have a better understanding of regional characteristics and have local channel distributors as their partners, which help put them at an advantage," explains Lin. "Therefore, the rise of locally-made products is one of the key areas to look for in next year's smartphone industry."

Meanwhile, it will also be interesting to see what other areas smartphone vendors will be cultivating, aside from their core business. For instance, some have begun to set foot into wearables, while others have made attempts at smart telematics and smart home applications.

While smartphone vendors have constantly unveiled their latest innovations and applications, monetization remains a problem and merits further observation in 2016.

Figure 1