Smartphone U.S. Market Share Reaches 17%

The proportion of adult U.S. subscribers owning smartphones jumped to 17% last year from 11% in 2008 and 7% in 2007, according to new data from Forrester Research. The growth rate has held steady from 2008 even as the user base has expanded -- a good sign, because new technologies often initially have gaudy growth numbers before declining rapidly as adoption increases, said Forrester.

While Apple may boast the glamor device of the smartphone world, the research firm points out that BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion has maintained a two-to-one advantage over the iPhone in market share. It cites factors such as availability across all carriers, pricing and its Qwerty keyboard for the BlackBerry's continued popularity.

What about 2010? "This will be the year of the smartphone, now that multiple device OEMs and multiple carriers are offering Android devices, and those ranks will grow (we expect AT&T to join the crowd in the first half of the year) as will the range of Android form factors and prices," wrote Forrester mobile analyst Charles Golvin.