According to market research firm, eMarketer, the number of smartphone users is expected to reach 1.75 billion at the end of 2014. Further, the global user base of mobile phones is forecast to reach 4.55 billion for the period under review.
The growing popularity of smartphones in the emerging markets like India and China is going to be the key growth driver for the increasing number of smartphone users in 2014. Going forward, the research firm expects about two-fifths of total mobile phone users i.e. close to one-quarter of the worldwide population, to use smartphone every month in 2014. eMarketer expects 4.55 billion people worldwide to use a mobile phone in 2014. Even though mobile adoption globally is slowing, new users in the developing regions of Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa will drive further growth in the adoption of smartphones.
Further, more than 2.23 billion people worldwide, 48.9 per cent of the mobile phone users, will go online through mobile at least monthly in 2014 and over half of the mobile audience will use the mobile internet in 2015.
