Saturday 26 February 2011

2011: The Year of the Smartphone

Telefonica Europe--which owns the O2 network--projects that by the end of 2011, one-third of its huge customer base will have a smartphone (up from one-fifth today).

Obviously, smartphones enable users to connect to social media any time, anywhere. Not surprisingly, predictions indicate that social networking will expand even faster in 2011, thanks to the popularity of smartphones. Also watch for more apps and more mobile marketing as the installed base of smartphones grows and grows.

One of the surprises has been how the iPhone, so hotly anticipated when it debuted, is not at the top of the smartphone sales list right now. Instead, HTC phones dominate the top slots. Why? One major reason: Price. The smartphones that compete with Apple's iPhone are cheaper or are being offered at carrier-subsidised prices.

Still, Apple has new iPhone models on the way--more quickly than ever before. By the end of 2011, mobile users will have an incredible array of smartphone choices (if they haven't already upgraded to the latest tech).