A study by analyst firm Juniper Research has revealed that smartphone sales will nearly double over the coming five years, increasing their share of mobile phone sales overall.
According to the Next Generation Smartphones: Players, Opportunities & Forecasts 2008-2013 report, annual sales of smartphones will see a massive rise of 95 per cent, with over 300 million units sold yearly by 2013. The analyst believes that the increase in web-based mobile programmes and applications has helped boost growth.
First truly expanded upon by Research in Motion, who installed mobile email on its BlackBerry devices, the mobile internet has spawned into a massive industry which is only continuing to grow. Andrew Kitson, the report's author, said: "The process of evolving mobile phones into internet-centric, highly personalised mobile computers is well underway."
This observation could well ring true, particularly for the industry's expansion regarding new companies jumping on the smartphone bandwagon. Recent speculation has suggested that PC manufacturer Dell may be creating its own mobile phone. The rumours are due in part to how smartphones like Apple's iPhone and Nokia's N-series are being seen as mobile computers.
Kitson also considered how smartphones might continue to move ahead in the future, revealing that he believes touchscreen capabilities have been taken as far as they can go and that software will be the new area of development. He said: "Changes in the design and form of mobile devices, such as the inclusion of large touch-based displays, have been taken to their limits.
Looking ahead, the shape and form of next-generation devices will most likely be led by software and content, rather than hardware, as vendors such as Nokia strive to make their devices highly personalised and rooted firmly in the online environment."
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