Smartphone Sales To Top 1.7 Billion By 2017, Dominate Mobile Phone Market

Research firm Ovum believes the smartphone market will ship 1.7 billion devices by 2017, with that dominance largely attributed to the Google Android mobile OS.

According to the groups research, Smartphones will outperform the rest of the mobile phone market, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 24.9% for the period from 2011-2017.

The study also found that Android will dominate most of the market over the next five years as cellular manufacturers rush to adapt the Google owned technology to their own mobile devices.

According to Ovum:

“In its latest forecast, the leading telecoms analyst house reveals global annual mobile phone shipments will grow at a CAGR of 6.3% between 2011 and 2017, driven primarily by demand from emerging markets where connection growth will continue to fuel handset shipments. New shipments in developed markets, such as North America and Western Europe, will be almost entirely made up of smartphones, while feature phones will continue to play a small role in emerging markets in 2017.”

In 2011 Android based smartphones made up 44% of the market, significantly higher than the 17% market share it held in 2010, however by 2017 that number is expected to reach 48% with a compound annual growth rate of 26.8% over the five year forecast period. In the meantime Apple’s own iOS is expected to reach 27% of the smartphone market, a 4% increase over 2011 reported numbers.

According to Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum:

“Although it will remain behind Android in terms of shipment volumes, Apple will continue to be a key player and innovator in the smartphone market over the forecast period. We expect Microsoft, despite its slow start, to have established Windows Phone as a relevant smartphone platform by 2017.”

Ovum predicts a 13% market share for Windows Phone based devices while RIM’s BlackBerry platform will still command 10% of the Smartphone market in 2017.