Worldwide Smartphone Usage to Grow 25% in 2014

Consumers around the world are rushing into the embrace of the smartphone market, according to new figures from eMarketer on mobile usage worldwide.

By the end of 2014, we expect 1.76 billion people to own and use smartphones monthly, up more than 25% over 2013. Just under one-quarter of the world’s total population will use smartphones in 2014 -- and by 2017, more than one-third of all people around the globe will be smartphone users. eMarketer’s estimates for smartphone users account for the number of individuals who own and use smartphones, regardless of the number of smartphones each of those individuals might have.

The total figure does not tell the entire story of global smartphone usage, and advanced handsets have already saturated more than half the population in many countries -- or will in the next few years. “By 2015, we project that 15 countries worldwide will have seen more than half their populations adopt smartphones,” said Monica Peart, senior forecasting analyst at eMarketer. “The embrace of this technology among the approximately 500 million people in these countries who will be using smart devices by the end of next year will have a significant influence on media usage, ecommerce and marketing.”