Global smart-phones users to surpass 1 billion

Only 5 summers after the release of the first iPhone, there are now over a billion smartphone users on this planet. Research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics said the number of users topped one billion in the third quarter of 2012, with 1 out of every 7 people worldwide keeping one a smartphone in their pocket.

The first smartphone, the Nokia Communicator (picture on the right), came out in 1996, but demand for the devices exploded after the release of Apple's iPhone in 2007. "By the third quarter of 2011, we estimate there were 708 million smartphones in global market. After a further year of upswing demand, the number of smartphones in use worldwide reached 1,038 billion units and the number of users is widely expected to double to two billion in less than three years.

"Smartphone penetration is still relatively low, most of the world doesn't yet own a smartphone and there remains a huge opportunity for future growth, particularly in emerging markets such as China and Africa.