Report: Smartphone shipments will approach 1 billion

The smartphone’s popularity will not slow down. According to In-Stat, the total number of smartphones expected to ship by 2015 will reach 850 million.

By 2012, more than half of all U.S. handset shipments will be smartphones. Eventually, the firm expects the total number of smartphones shipped worldwide to reach 1 billion. In-Stat also forecasts that more than two-thirds of smartphones will be Wideband Code Division Multiple Access-based – a radio access scheme for third generation cellular systems – which includes Android, Intel, Nokia, Samsung and Hewlett-Packard. Only a small minority will use Long Term Evolution – the 4G wireless broadband technology – including Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile.

What may be most surprising is the operating systems breakdown. The Android OS, not Apple’s iOS or RIM’S BlackBerry, will be the dominant operating system moving forward. The report sees Symbian-based handsets continuing to grow, despite recent reports of its demise. Symbian will have the second highest unit shipments of all operating systems.

“There are several critical factors that drive smartphone success,” says Allen Nogee, principal analyst. “These include a powerful browser, a wide variety of apps, an easy to navigate user interface and a good keyboard or touchscreen. Additionally, other intangible attributes, such as being ‘fashionable’ and that ‘your friends have one’ are important.”

Companies have seen a staggering jump in recent smartphone sales. According to Strategy Analytics, 2010 smartphone sales grew 66 percent, up significantly from 2009, when they grew only 16 percent. The first three quarters of 2010 saw vendors ship more than 200 million units, up nearly 68 percent over the first three quarters of 2009.

“That the smartphone market has grown nearly 90 percent from last year and more than six times the overall mobile phone market indicates strong demand worldwide and vendors' collective ability to meet that demand,” says Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.

Microsoft appears to be left behind in the smartphone blitz. With more people utilizing smartphones and tablets for their enterprise mobility needs, the software giant is trying to catch up to the success of Apple and Android’s operating systems. Just recently, Microsoft released guidelines for its partners to try and keep companies loyal to the Microsoft slates over Apple’s iPad. The move appears desperate, since Microsoft made its name in the very core of enterprise. According to the report by In-Stat, Microsoft will ship millions of Windows smartphones, but will not see the type of numbers its competitors will experience.