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In the recent past the smartphone market has developed rapidly and new suppliers have entered the market. The operators as channel partners have to decide how to shape and market their mobile phone portfolio. This paper explores the competitive landscape of the mobile smartphone market and the roles of the participating market players. Special attention is also given to the high technical complexity and an overview on the state-of-the-art technical systems is given. The objective of this master thesis is to give an outlook on the future smartphone market in terms of market shares and to explore the underlying influencing factors and future main applications. For the forecast and rating of influence factors a Delphi study was conducted among experts. On the one hand, the market shares were estimated and on the other, the most important influencing factors and future applications for the residential and business segment were rated.

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Finishing his study of industrial engineering the author Stefan May started his career in the telecommunication industry. After several sucessful years making experiences in the position as product- and projectmanager he finished his MBA in Marketing & Sales at the economical on the economical University of Vienna.

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