Smartphone subscriptions are expected to exceed 6.1 billion by 2020, Ericsson Mobility Report reveals.
Moreover, 90 per cent of the world’s population aged six years or older will have a mobile phone by 2020, states the report.
“The falling cost of handsets, coupled with improved usability and increasing network coverage, are factors that are making mobile technology a global phenomenon that will soon be available to the vast majority of the world’s population, regardless of age or location,” says Rima Qureshi, senior vice president, chief strategy officer and head of mergers and acquisitions at Ericsson.
Rafiah Ibrahim, president of the Middle East Region at Ericsson, adds: “With 55 per cent growth in mobile subscriptions between 2014 and 2020, and with 85 per cent of Mea mobile subscriptions expected to be 3G/4G by 2020, the region is definitely paving the way to the ‘networked society’.”
Smartphone growth continues, as 65-70 per cent of all phones sold in the third quarter of 2014 were Smartphones, when compared with 55 per cent in the same quarter for 2013.
Despite this increased rate of sales, which will see the addition of an estimated 800 million new Smartphone subscriptions by the end of 2014, the report says there is still plenty of room for growth in the sector.
Smartphones currently account for just 37 per cent of all mobile phone subscriptions, meaning that many users have yet to make the switch to the more feature-rich, internet-friendly option.
The report predicts a strong uptick in the coming years as the number rises from 2.7bn Smartphone subscriptions today to the forecasted 6.1bn in 2020.
ifpinfo
26 November
