Developing world accounts for two thirds of smartphone connections on the planet
There will be six billion smartphones in use globally by 2020, according to a new report by the GSMA.
The ‘Smartphone forecasts and assumptions, 2007-2020′ study, by its research arm, GSMA Intelligence, says the six billion figure will account for two thirds of the estimated nine billion mobile phone connections in the marketplace by this date.
Currently, the GSMA estimates there are around two billion connections globally with 45.4 million in the UK alone, making it the ninth largest market in the world.
The top three territories for smartphone adoption are China (629.2 million), USA (196.8 million) and Brazil (141.8 million).
“The smartphone has sparked a wave of global innovation that has brought new services to millions and efficiencies to businesses of every type,” said GSMA chief strategy officer Hyunmi Yang. “As the study released today shows, smartphones will be the driving force of mobile industry growth over the next six years, with one billion new smartphone connections expected over the next 18 months alone.”
The study also claims that the developing world overtook the developed world in terms of the number of smartphone connections in 2011 and now accounts for two out of every three smartphones on the planet. By 2020, this figure will have grown to 80 per cent.