18 October 2012

Smartphone population tops 1 billion in Q3/2012

The number of smartphones in use worldwide surpassed the 1 billion-unit mark for the first time ever in the third-quarter 2012, according to the report ‘Global Smartphone Installed Base by Operating System for 88 Countries: 2007 to 2017’ from Strategy Analytics. It has taken 16 years for the smartphone industry to reach this historic milestone.

“The world’s first modern smartphone, the Nokia Communicator, was introduced in 1996,” notes senior analyst Scott Bicheno. “Nokia remained a dominant force in smartphones for over a decade until the arrival of Apple’s iconic iPhone in 2007. The iPhone revolutionized smartphone design and it catalyzed industry growth,” he adds. By Q3/2011, there were 708 million smartphones in use worldwide, the market research firm estimates. “After a further year of soaring demand [surpassing 959 million in Q2/2012], the number of smartphones in use worldwide reached 1.038 billion units during the third quarter of 2012,” Bicheno continues.

“We estimate one in seven of the world’s population owned a smartphone in the third quarter of 2012,” says Strategy Analytics’ executive director Neil Mawston. “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,” he reckons. “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.”  

Tags: Strategy Analytics

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