Annual sales of smartphones will surpass 1 billion units by 2013

SAO PAULO-the number of smartphones that reach the market will surpass for the first time the mark of 1 billion units by 2013, according to research firm IDC. According to the company, sales of this type of device will have 40% growth this year, driven by the allowance of more developed markets operators and increased sales of appliances with prices under $ 200.
The IDC's estimate is that sales of smartphones will reach 1.7 billion units in 2017. "Two years ago, the Smartphone market approached a sales volume of 500 million units for the first time. Double that number in a short period of time shows how these devices are present everywhere, "said Ramon Llamas, IDC's Research Director in a statement sent to the press. "The devices have gone from a status of State-of-the-art equipment to be a component of daily life of billions of consumers," he said.
For the next four years, IDC projects that the Google Android, and iOS, Apple, will continue to be market-leading operating systems, with 68.3% and 17.9% of the total, respectively. Windows Phone, Microsoft, if will consolidate in the third position, with 10.2% and the BlackBerry OS, the homonymous Canadian, will reduce its market share by almost half, to 1.7%.
In 2013, the performance of smart phones will contribute to the growth in sales of mobile phones in General. According to IDC, the market will have an expansion of 7.3%. The performance is much better than the registered last year, when the high was 1.2%.