40 million quad-core smartphones were sold last year

According to market researcher Berg Insights, sales of smartphones powered by quad-core processors rose to 40 million units in 2012. Total smartphone sales amounted to 690 million units last year, up 47% from the 470 million sold in the prior year.  Breaking down the data even more, we find that most of the increase in smartphone sales last year came from top-shelf models with unsubsidized pricing of €400 ($535 USD) and higher or €100 ($134 USD) and lower.

Last year, high-end smartphone sales rose from 150 million phones to 250 million, although Berg believes that future growth in smartphone sales will come from increases in the low to mid-range category. The researcher says that by 2017, nearly all of the 1.5 billion smartphones that will be sold that year, will be equipped with at least a dual-core processor and the majority will be powered by a quad-core processor.

It seems like yesterday when the first Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor was showing up in models like the Nexus One. We blinked our eyes and quickly, dual-core models like the Motorola ATRIX were being launched. And then came the quad-core powered devices. It all started with the LG Optimus 4X HD, powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 3. And now we have 40 million quad-core devices getting shipped in 2012.

source: BergInsights via BGR