Analyst sees smartphone users tripling by 2012

The smartphone market should grow three-fold by 2012, according to a research note published this week by RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky. The note calls the market "huge, nascent and underpenetrated," according to Fortune.

Abramsky said that Apple, Research in Motion (RIM) and Palm are all "positioned for leadership" and should have a commanding control the smartphone market, which he predicts will reach 504 million phones by 2012.

"[These] challengers will dominate the smartphone market, given their deep vertical integration and ‘special sauce’ through which they create unique, iconic smartphone experiences," Abramsky wrote, according to Electronista.

Meanwhile, Fortune named RIM to the top spot on its annual list of the 100 fastest-growing companies. But the magazine points out that RIM’s future growth will likely come from consumer, rather than business users.

RIM’s success is good news for its business clients, but it will be interesting to see what effect the rise of consumer-directed smartphones like the iPhone has on enterprise mobility.

As smartphones become more ubiquitous in the consumer and enterprise setting, IT staff will be challenged to monitor all of the devices for security and compliance issues, making a strategy for mobile inventory control essential.