Smartphones nearly a third of all phones sold in fourth quarter

smartphones made up 31 percent of the mobile device market in the fourth quarter, up from 23 percent in the last quarter of 2008

link: Smartphones: Not Just for The Young and Hip – CNBC

40% by end of 2010? 50% by end of 2011? Reason why:

about 75 percent of the smartphones purchased in the fourth-quarter were priced at $150 or less


Analysts scrambling to update models as app download rates explode

Analysts at Yankee Group recently boosted their forecasts for what they call a mobile app “gold rush,” saying that revenue from U.S. downloads alone would reach nearly $1.6 billion in 2010 and would hit $11 billion in 2014. Only six months ago, their analysis indicated that U.S. downloads would bring in far less — about $4.2 billion in 2013.

link: Studies Forecast Rapid Growth in Mobile Apps – Digits – WSJ

These attempts at forecasting are fraught with errors.

For the record, I’ve blown my estimates on this multiple times. The growth of the iPad will put another wrench in the works. I wonder how these “mobile” forecasts will change when the platform consists of a music player, a phone and a pseudo-computer.