Smartphone sales outpace laptops: Business use spurs ARPU, if companies cover cost

Just as we suspected: Smartphone sales far outpace the overall handset market in growth and will continue to do so over the next five years, according to new data from In-Stat. Projections call for a 30% compound annual growth rate for smartphones, in contrast to single-digit growth for other handsets.
This just in: Smartphone sales already exceed laptop sales by unit volume and will continue to do so, In-Stat found. In fact, a significant slice of smartphone sales come from business people replacing laptops. All smartphone operating systems (other than Palm OS) will grow at double digits for the next five years.
Benefits to businesses and carriers: Earlier this year, In-Stat found that businesses that provide workers with smartphones-and cover the costs, with few questions asked-increase workers’ time spent on business-related calls. (Time spent on personal calls was incidental to increased productivity.) And, among workers who use smartphones and travel, average revenue per user is double that of the typical feature-phone user-incentive for carriers to expand their portfolio in this growth area.
The upshot: Carriers and businesses should promote the use of smartphones for productivity gains and enhanced ARPU. The “year of the smartphone” is an outdated concept; instead, healthy incremental growth is the expected model.