The number of smartphones users crossed one billion mark during the third quarter of 2012, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics’ Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service.
Strategy Analytics said that the smartphone industry has taken 16 years to reach the milestone and one in seven people now own a smartphone device.
The Nokia Communicator, introduced in 1996, was world’s first modern smartphone but the demand grew increasingly for the devices after Apple’s release of Phone in 2007 which revolutionised smartphone design, the analysts said.
By the third quarter of last year, it is estimated 708 million smartphones were used globally.
According to Strategy Analytics, smartphone penetration is still relatively low and most of the world does not yet own the device and there remains huge scope for future growth, particularly in emerging markets that include China, India and Africa.
Strategy Analytics expects that the next billion unit mark of smart phones will achieved by 2015.
Earlier this month, social network Facebook had crossed one billion mark with one in seven people on the planet are actively using the network.
In July this year, Strategy Analytics estimated that the UK remains a highly active in smartphone market with sales to grow +36% during 2012 above the Western European average of +34%.
Android and Apple dominate the UK smartphone market, but Microsoft and Nokia are making a play to change that with new LTE models in 2013.
