Smartphone Market Share Worldwide to Hit 5.6 Billion in 2019; China, Emerging Markets to Drive Smartphone Usage Increase, Says Ericsson Report [Video]

The smartphone market is expected to grow by the billions during the next few years based on new data.

According to Ericsson's Mobility Report, mobile subscriptions will reach to 9.3 billion by the time 2019 arrives.

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Of that 9.3 billion, 5.6 billion will account for smartphones, which represents 60 percent of the mobile penetration. Currently, 25 to 30 percent of all mobile phones are represented by smartphones.

"The rapid pace of smartphone uptake has been phenomenal and is set to continue," said Ericsson Senior Vice President and Head of Strategy Douglas Gilstrap. "It took more than five years to reach the first billion smartphone subscriptions, but it will take less than two to hit the [two] billion mark. Between now and 2019, smartphone subscriptions will triple."

Gilstrap noted that the increase of smartphone usage will be driven by Chinese consumers as well as other "emerging markets" due to low-priced smartphones.

The Ericsson Mobility Report noted WCDMA/HSPA networks will cover 90 percent of the global population by 2019. For 4G LTE networks, it is expected to represent 65 percent of the world's populous.

Video has been seen to be a growing aspect among smartphone usage. Ericsson stated video is growing 55 percent on an annual basis and will represent more than 50 percent of the mobile data traffic in 2019.

The impact of social media has been noted by the mobility report with Ericsson stating such websites will account for 10 percent of the world's mobile data traffic.

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