The popularity of smartphones can not be understated, and that fact was highlighted this week by Strategy Analytics . The research firm has declared through its own studies that Q3 2012 sales have finally helped push the handheld devices market over the 1.038 billion sales mark.
Smartphones went on sale 16 years ago but fully took off in 2007 when Apple announced the release of the Apple iPhone, a revolutionary device that eventually led to increased competition via the Google Android OS and now Windows Phone.
The study claims that the next one billion smartphones will be purchased in just the next three years thanks to their popularity and the option to upgrade devices every two years at deeply discounted prices.
Strategy Analytics notes that the falling prices for most smartphones will likely mean more brisk sales.
The first smartphone known as the Nokia Communicator hit the open market in 1996; at that time, Nokia owned the mobile market. Today Nokia is placing its future on a Microsoft partnership, and, should Windows Phone 8 fail to grab a larger market share, the company could find itself placing its future hopes on the Google Android OS.
To put smartphone sales in perspective, it took 15 years to sell 708 million smartphones (1996 through Q3 2011) but only the next one year to sell an additional 292 million.
According to Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, the number of smartphone sales now works out to 1 person in every 7 owning a smartphone. If that number is correct, it would mean there is still plenty of users that companies can attract to the smartphone market for the first time.