Smartphone sales to soar

High-tech smartphones will make up 23% of all mobile phone sales by 2013, according to new figures from Juniper Research. The company’s Next Generation Smartphones: Players, Opportunities & Forecasts 2008-2013 report said annual smartphone sales will grow to $300 million by 2013 as application stores help push purchases. 

The firm claims that although the Apple App Store is not the only application marketplace, it has been a massive driving force behind the movement. Juniper says about 300 million applications were downloaded by iPhone users in the first five months after the App Store launched.

“As vendors increasingly open up the operating system software on their devices, the rate at which mobile handsets evolve into personalised internet-centric mobile computers will gather momentum,” Juniper analyst Andrew Kitson told Itnews.com.au.

“In this way, users are having an indirect impact on the way in which devices are changing their form and function, as well as how they interact with their surroundings. Very soon, the majority of new phones will be smartphones.”