In a report compiled by wireless market research firm Wireless Expertise, the number of smartphones sold worldwide each year is expected to increase from around 165m in 2009 to 423m in 2013, or about 28%-30% of the total mobile market.
The total number of smartphone users is expected to hit 1.6bn, fuelled by a demand for mobile applications.
Anuj Khanna, CEO of Wireless Expertise, said: "Strong revenues are expected to come from low-end mass market smartphones and mid- to high-end feature-phones in the mid- to long-term as operators and handset manufacturers take app stores to the mass market.
"With over four billion mobile users around the world compared to approximately one billion PCs, mobile will become the ideal channel for businesses to reach their consumers.
"Mobile operators have to adopt a dual app store strategy, using the now widely-accepted app store model in conjunction with a browser-based widget store, to provide the greatest potential for a mass-market proposition."
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