We all know that smartphones are an essential tool for many all around the world and their base of consumers is increasing quite swiftly with each passing day. This fact is fortified by the latest research report according to which the number of active smartphones in the entire world has topped 1 billion mark for the very first time ever. This rapid increase in the usage of smartphones was further boosted by the launch of Apple‘s latest and greatest; the iPhone 5. The popular device has played an important role in surpassing the 1 billion figure.
According to the study, the exact figure is 1.038 billion, a total that has grown an impressive 47 percent in total as compared to the same time last year. If the number of smartphones users kept growing at this clip, then there is a high probability that the number of smartphone users would top 2 billion in 2015. At this moment, the one billion mark suggest that out of every seven people in the world owns a smart phone.
This is an incredible number given that smartphones have achieved this impressive adoption after having only been introduced back in 1996 by Finnish firm Nokia. This strong smartphone growth has also aided companies like Samsung and Apple to accumulate billions of dollars with the sale of their products by slashing their rivals’ (Nokia and Espoo) shares in the market.
Moreover, with their line up of Galaxy smartphones, Samsung has finally been able to bring more than a decade long reign of Nokia to an end and achieved the prestigious status of world’s biggest mobile maker this year.
Samsung, the Suwon, South Korea-based maker of Galaxy smartphones, ended Nokia’s 14-year reign as the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones this year, according to shipment estimates by industry researchers including Strategy Analytics.
However, in spite of all these hefty figures, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, Neil Mawston believes that, “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.”
Source: Financial Post