Smartphones have only been around for a few years and yet they have already become the most frequently used device in the world. Manufacturers shipped more smartphones than PCs in the forth quarter of 2010 with a total of 101 Million to be exact (87% up from the previous year) while only 92 Million PCs were shipped in the same period. Analysts have always expected smartphones sales to outnumber PCs but not until later this year.

Android was the most popular phone software, while Nokia shipped the most phones. The Apple iPhone, which almost doubled its share from a year previously, claimed the number 2 spot after Nokia. All of this is bad news for the PC market, which would have grown faster if iPads were considered PCs.

“Android continues to gain market share by leaps and bounds, helping to drive the smartphone market” said Ramon Llamas, IDC analyst. “It has become the cornerstone of multiple vendors’ smartphone strategies, and has quickly become a challenger to market leader Symbian.”

The growth in smartphone sales are expected to continue to skyrocket as manufacturers continue to improve on high-end models and making mid tiers less expensive.

Smartphone Vs. Non-Smarphone Subscriber Share

The US has seen strong growth in smartphone usage within the last few years with a huge surge in 2010. We should continue to see smartphone usage increase as more manufacturers are adopting the concept, making devices cheaper and are producing more innovations such as the tablet.

With the current blackberry craze in Jamaica, we estimate that at least 70% of the Jamaican population use smartphones, since the local mobile market is not solely supplied by Digicel and LIME. Thousands of Jamaicans import handsets monthly from the US and Europe which are activated on local mobile networks, a majority of which are blackberries. We should also see growth in popularity of tablets locally since the introduction of the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab.