Sixteen years after the first modern smartphone was introduced, there are now more than a billion smartphones in use worldwide.
This is according to the latest research by Strategy Analytics, which estimates that one in seven people around the world owned a smartphone in the third quarter of 2012.
According to Strategy Analytics' figures, in the third quarter of 2011, there were 708 million smartphones in use worldwide. This figure has now jumped to 1.038 billion handsets, and is increasing exponentially.
Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics, says: "The first billion smartphones in use worldwide took 16 years to reach, but we forecast the next billion to be achieved in less than three years, by 2015."
Senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, Scott Bicheno, says the first modern smartphone was the Nokia Communicator, which was released in 1996. "Nokia remained a dominant force in smartphones for over a decade, until the arrival of Apple's iconic iPhone in 2007. The iPhone revolutionised smartphone design and it catalysed industry growth."
Mawston adds: "Smartphone penetration is still relatively low. Most of the world does not yet own a smartphone and there remains huge scope for future growth, particularly in emerging markets such as China, India and Africa."
Recent figures from IDC showed that together Android and iOS accounted for 85% of all smartphone shipments globally (with Android accounting for 68% of that).
Mobile analytics research firm Flurry also reported global smartphone adoption, and the adoption of Android and iOS specifically, is outpacing the rate of adoption of any consumer technology in history.
The report found the smartphone adoption rate was 10 times higher than that of the 80s PC revolution, twice as fast as the 90s Internet boom and three times faster than the adoption of social networking.
In SA, the smartphone user base at the end of 2011 was estimated to be in the region of 8.5 million. This figure is expected to rise to 11 million by the end of 2012. The nationally representative Mobility 2012 study by World Wide Worx found the local smartphone market is dominated by BlackBerry - with 4.5 million BlackBerry handsets currently in use.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says there are currently under a million active Android devices in SA, and less than 500 000 iPhone users. Looking beyond smartphones, Nokia still commands over 50% of SA's mobile market.
Share