US Smartphone Ownership Expected to Reach 162 Million by 2015

By 2015, Coda Research Consultancy forecasts that ownership of converged mobile devices, also known as smartphones, will reach 162 million units in the United States, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22% between 2009 and 2015.

At the core of this growth is accelerating demand by handset subscribers to access the mobile internet. In this scenario, users will give greater priority to operating systems over handsets. Operating systems will be judged according to how well they provide seamless, intuitive and reliable interfaces between users and the mobile internet, and for the range of applications available. This scenario is challenging for carriers, who risk being seen by users chiefly as conduits to the services and content they want to access and interact with online.

"Carriers face the difficulties of having to establish their value, roles and positions within this rapidly emerging ecosystem, and compete with mobile internet content and service brands for the creation and maintenance of direct relationships with users. The situation is also problematic for device manufacturers. With users tending to choose handsets according to their operating systems rather than the handsets themselves, users will de-center handset brands from the purchase process. Handset manufacturers will need to think very carefully about which operating systems they choose to put on their phones", says Steve Smith, co-Founder of Coda Research Consultancy.

Other key findings from a new Coda Research Consultancy report include the following:

* In 2015, smartphones will form two thirds of all mobile handset shipments in the US, up from one third in 2010.
* In the middle of 2009, the numbers of smartphone and feature phone owners accessing the internet were roughly equal. By the end of 2015, 83% of mobile internet users will be smartphone owners.
* Android will see the fastest growth among smartphone operating systems. From shipping 9% of smartphones in 2009, Android will go on to form 25% of smartphone shipments in 2015, underpinned by a growing number of handset models.