In a recent survey by eMarketer, they predict that by the end of 2014, 1.76 billion people will own and use smartphones. This is more than 25% higher than the number using smartphones in 2013. The market doesn’t show any signs of slowing either. eMarketer estimates that by 2017 over 1/3 of of the people on earth will be smartphone users.
Smartphones and their usage have already substantially pervaded the user base in many countries and by 2015 more than half of the population using smartphones and mobile applications in 15 countries. South Korea had the deepest smartphone penetration, where smartphones were used by more than half the citizens in 2012. Australia followed surpassing 50% in 2013.
Western Europe is the region with the second highest number of smartphone users (behind the Asian market), with 196.6 million smartphone users in 2014. By 2015, most of Western Europe will be using smartphones. The US will also reach 50% smartphone use this year and for the next few years the US will remain the second-largest smartphone market worldwide, behind China.
As smartphone hardware use continues to expand, mobile applications continue to grow as well. Gartner recently predicted that global revenue from the app stores is expected to rise 62% this year to $25 billion.
“We are expecting to see solid growth in the applications market as we are now developing apps for tvs and other household devices as well as for mobile devices.” states Kimber Johnson, Managing Director of Vanity Point. “The industry continues to expand and grow in exciting ways that bring new levels of convenience and functionality to users.”
In the very near future, many of the devices and appliances around homes and offices will be connected via a wireless network and the Internet. Businesses can expect an explosion in the number of intelligent devices and smart applications connected to the Internet. This Internet of Things will create additional information that allows supply chains access to deliver goods and services in exciting new ways they could have only imagined in the past.
Gartner, Inc. recently forecasted a 30X increase in Internet-connected physical devices by 2020 and these devices will significantly alter supply chain information.
The Internet of Things is predicted to reach 26 billion installed units by the year 2020 and its impact may reach further than you think. According to Michael Burkett, managing vice president at Gartner, “Some IoT devices are more mature, such as commercial telematics now used in trucking fleets to improve logistics efficiency, some, such as smart fabrics that use sensors within clothing and industrial fabrics to monitor human health or manufacturing processes, are just emerging.”
As businesses see these capabilities become more common, supply chains will be able to deliver to customers more efficiently. This efficiency will happen when many more smart devices than today are communicating to a network that then creates the appropriate response.
“Smart delivery of goods and services based on the needs communicated through the Internet of Things is the next wave of mobile business and smart applications,” says Kimber Johnson, Managing Director of Vanity Point, “Investment in this area is expected to yield sizable returns.”