Smartphones Get Smarter As More People Go Mobile

The prevailing thinking is that the future of the internet is mobile, as more and more people turn to their mobile devices for everything from social networking to making online purchases. That’s why the latest news on smartphones and their rapid sales growth is so timely and important.

According to independent research firm Gartner, sales of mobile devices worldwide reached 1.6 billion in 2010, an increase of 31.8 percent over 2009.

Smartphone Sales Show Significant Growth In 2010

Sales of smartphones increased by a whopping 72.1 percent over 2009, accounting for 19 percent of all 2010′s mobile device sales.

Smartphone technology is concentrated in the areas where more disposable income is available and that have the infrastructure in place to support that technology, namely Western Europe and North America. 52.3 percent of worldwide smartphone sales were transacted in these two markets alone in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Research In Motion (RIM) and Apple saw sizable increases in the sales of mobile phones, moving into 4th and 5th place respectively in the rankings of mobile device manufacturers, displacing Motorola and Sony Ericsson, according to Gartner. This was mainly thanks to an increase in smartphone sales.

During the same period, LG and Nokia lost market share due to inadequate smartphone marketing strategies.

Operating Systems Shine

Google’s Android operating system (OS) showed fantastic growth at 888.8 percent in 2010, pushing it into 2nd place in the operating system market. This was spurred on by the adoption of the Android OS in such high-end devices as those supplied by HTC, Motorola and Samsung.

Overall, Google and Apple have turned the mobile phone market on its ear and their success has left former market leaders struggling to maintain a foothold in the market.

Smartphones are expected to continue to take over market share as more users turn to them for more of their everyday online activities and also as their functionality improves, particularly the internet browser capability.

In my opinion, this is a great leap forward, as I personally love having the ability to do virtually everything I want from one device, namely my smartphone. And that’s what I do, up to and including writing this post on my smartphone. And once they finally make the browser on a smartphone as powerful and user-friendly as the one on my laptop, I may never put my smartphone down again.

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