World to see 5.6 billion smartphones by 2019

The number of smartphones in the world is forecast to triple to 5.6 billion by 2019, accounting for more than 60 per cent of all mobile phones.

Sweden's Ericsson AB, the world's largest maker of telecommunications networks, said in a report it expects smartphone traffic to grow tenfold in the next six years, with service providers increasing high-speed networks to deal with the surge.

Total mobile subscriptions – including feature phones or "dumb phones" – are predicted to reach 9.3 billion by 2019.
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Ericsson said annual smartphone traffic would hit 10 billion gigabytes by 2019, with videos representing 50 per cent of all data traffic. Social networking and web services would account for 10 per cent each.

It said smartphones currently make up 55 per cent of all mobile phones sold but represent only 25 to 30 per cent of all mobile subscriptions.


/Smh.Com.Au/