Two thirds of the world’s population will use mobile devices by 2022

The research firm expects the number of global smartphone subscribers to cross the 50% mark for smartphone penetration in 2017, reaching 3.8bn people in the next five years. This represents 66% of the world’s population, and is a considerable increase from the 21% recorded in 2013. 

The findings are based on a survey of more than 9,000 consumers, combined with analysis and historical data going back to 2009. 

Other findings include that large-screen smartphones are contributing to a decline in tablet users, with Forrester expecting the total tablet base to decline from 615m in 2016 to 579m in 2022.

In terms of brands, Android is anticipated to take 73% of smartphone market share this year ( 1.8bn users), followed by Apple ( 21%) and Windows ( 4%). 

The report can be accessed here.