Smartphones are likely to surpass the feature phones market share in the US

If you were to sit on board a subway on your way to work a few years ago, you'd probably see more people chatting away on feature phones. With the huge explosion of smartphones, consumers are seeing the advantages they offer and are increasingly relying on these kind of devices to keep them constantly connected. There is a Nielsen report by Roger Entner, senior vice president of research and insights, where it states that the smartphone market will catch up and overpass the feature phone market in the US by 2011. Looking closely at the figures paints a realizing truth – approximately 21 percent of US subscribers were using a smartphone in Q4 2009. That's actually up 19 percent from the previous quarter and a 14 percent increase from Q4 2008. In that same report, 45 percent of those that participated in a Nielsen survey indicated that their next handset of choice would be a smartphone. Eventually by the third quarter of 2011, it's projected that the US smartphone market would surpass feature phones as prices for smartphones continue to fall. Also adding to the rise of smartphone usage is the sheer amount of applications being made available for smartphones that will undoubtedly attract people thanks partly to their allure.

source: Nielsen via Mobileburn