Smartphone Sales Predicted to Stay Strong, to Become Led By Open Source

Two new market research reports are predicting strong smartphone sales growth going forward, and some researchers are predicting that open source-based smartphones will soon start to trump Apple's iPhone. In-Stat is predicting that the number of mobile application users will quadruple in five years, and that sales of open source-based smartphones will double iPhone sales over the same time period. In-Stat's latest report on the trend, foresees applications moving briskly from mobile application stores such as Apple's and the Android Marketplace.

Wi-Fi Planet cites David Chamberlain, principal analyst at In-Stat, as predicting that growth in phones supporting mobile applications will produce new mobile advertising revenue streams by 2013. Chamberlain predicts that mobile app-centric smartphones--led by the iPhone and Android-based handsets--will reach more than 30 percent of the global smartphone market. However, for his prediction about open source smartphone sales doubling iPhone sales to come true, I think we're going to need to see more Android phones with various capabilities showing up.

The LiMo Linux-based phones are not having a huge impact on the market, and there still is only one Android-based handset in the United States: the T-Mobile G1. The G2 successor is initially only to be sold outside the U.S. It's a shame that more Android handsets weren't shown at the recent Mobile World Congress conference--now the biggest global event showcasing new smartphones.

Meanwhile, new hardware players are coming into the mix. Acer is moving ahead with its smartphone plans, and there is widespread speculation that Dell may have plans to enter the market as well. And, In-Stat isn't the only research firm predicting a torrid pace for smartphones even during down economic times. As GigaOm reports, Infonetics Research also sees very strong smartphone sales going forward.