Forrester Research: 1 Billion Smartphones By 2016

257 Million In U.S. Alone

FORRESTER RESEARCH confirms what most of us already realize -- the smartphone is just about everywhere. The company has come out with a new report, reports TIME, "that puts some numbers on the coming mobile explosion. The headline figure is perhaps the most striking: By 2016, just four years from now, one billion consumers will have smartphones."

In the U.S. alone, consumers will own 257 million smartphones and 126 million tablets, notes TIME. With growing smartphone use, economist MICHAEL MANDEL says the "app economy has already created nearly 500,000 jobs in the U.S."

FORRESTER estimated $1.3 trillion will be generated by smartphone use by 2015, with $55 billion spent on mobile apps. Principal Analyst TED SCHADLER said, "Mobile is the new face of engagement. Businesses should stop thinking about it as a small website on a tiny computer, and start thinking about mobile as being deeply embedded systems of engagement.That turns out to have huge implications."

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