GSMA Predicts Smartphones Connections to Reach 6Bn by 2020

Smartphones will account for two out of every three mobile connections globally by 2020, according to a major new report by GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA.

The new study, “Smartphone forecasts and assumptions, 2007-2020”, finds that smartphones account for one in three mobile connections1 today, representing more than two billion mobile connections.

It forecasts that the number of smartphone connections will grow three-fold over the next six years, reaching six billion by 2020, accounting for two-thirds of the nine billion mobile connections by that time.

Basic phones, feature phones and data terminals such as tablets, dongles and routers will account for the remaining connections. The study excludes M2M from the connections totals.

“The smartphone has sparked a wave of global innovation that has brought new services to millions and efficiencies to businesses of every type. As the study released today shows, smartphones will be the driving force of mobile industry growth over the next six years, with one billion new smartphone connections expected over the next 18 months alone, said Hyunmi Yang, chief strategy officer at the GSMA.

“In the hands of consumers, these devices are improving living standards and changing lives, especially in developing markets, while contributing to growing economies by stimulating entrepreneurship. As the industry evolves, smartphones are becoming lifestyle hubs that are creating opportunities for mobile industry players in vertical markets such as financial services, healthcare, home automation and transport.”

The developing world overtook the developed world in terms of smartphone connections in 2011 and today accounts for two in every three smartphones on the planet, according to the new study.

It is predicted that by 2020, four out of every five smartphone connections worldwide will come from the developing world.

Asia Pacific today accounts for about half of global smartphone connections, even though smartphone penetration in the region is currently calculated at below 40 per cent.

The Asia Pacific total is boosted by the inclusion of China, the world’s largest smartphone market, with more than 629 million smartphone connections.

In many developed markets, smartphone penetration is approaching the 70 to 80 per cent ‘ceiling’ at which growth tends to slow. According to the report, smartphone adoption is forecast to reach 75 per cent in Europe and North America by 2020.

Smartphone growth in these two regions has slowed in recent years; smartphone connections grew by 35 per cent in North America and by 39 per cent in Europe between 2010 and 2013, compared to growth rates of over 80 per cent during the period in Asia Pacific and Latin America.