Smartphone sales to exceed 422 million in 2013

The number of smartphones sold each year globally will increase from around 165.2 million in 2009 to 422.96 million in 2013, with the total number of smartphone users approaching 1.6 billion, says UK-based wireless market research and consulting firm, Wireless Expertise.

Its latest report, The future of mobile application storefronts says smartphone penetration will reach approximately 28-30 per cent of the total mobile market by 2013.

"We expect smartphone growth to have a positive impact on the number of application downloads in the short- to mid-term," said Anuj Khanna, CEO of Wireless Expertise and author of the report. "Strong revenues are expected to come from low-end mass market smartphones and mid-to high-end feature-phones in the mid- to long-term as operators and handset manufacturers take app stores to the mass market."

Wireless Expertise forecasts that the global mobile app market - including games - will be worth $4.66 billion in 2009, rising to $16.60 billion, in 2013. With mobile phones outnumbering PCs around the world by 4:1, mobile applications represent an even bigger opportunity for the mobile industry than the fixed-line perceived the internet a decade ago.

"With over four billion mobile users around the world compared to approximately one billion PCs, mobile will become the ideal channel for businesses to reach their consumers," continued Khanna. "Mobile operators have to adopt a dual app store strategy, using the now widely-accepted app store model in conjunction with a browser-based widget store, to provide the greatest potential for a mass-market proposition."

The report points out that complacency from existing handset vendors and mobile operators had virtually killed the mobile content market. But mobile applications have reignited the demand for multimedia content and applications.