More than 1.1 billion mobile phones are likely to be sold in 2009 worldwide, but the real revenue earners for the phone makers are smartphones, says market research firm Infonetics.

 

“Smartphones are on track to post a 14.5 percent increase in the number of units sold worldwide in 2009, and a 21 percent compound annual growth rate from 2008 to 2013, significantly better than other mobile phone segments,” said Richard Webb, Infonetics Research’s (News - Alert) directing analyst for mobile devices.

 

Accelerating HSPA deployments in North America, Western Europe and developed Asia Pacific countries is driving the revenue from smartphones.

 

“While smartphone revenue is expected to dip in 2009 mainly due to price erosion and lower-ARPU units coming to market, we expect it to pick up in 2010 and continue growing, easily outstripping the combined revenue of standard mobile phones by 2012,” Richard Webb added.

 

Despite an estimated 10 percent increase in the number of worldwide mobile and WiFi (News - Alert) phones sold the second half of 2009, the research firm expects a 9 percent revenue decline due to downward price pressure.

 

Among the phone makers, Nokia (News - Alert) maintained its leadership in the first half of 2009, according Infonetics.

 

So far, no smartphone has become as popular as Apple’s (News - Alert) iPhone has become. On vendor market, Apple's smartphone share rose to 9 percent in the second quarter of 2009 on the strength of the iPhone 3GS, says the researcher.

 

Competition is growing for iPhone (News - Alert) with every phone maker unveiling newer smartphone to outwit the Apple’s handset. For an instance, AT&T launched Blackberry Bold 3G in partnership with RIM with an eye to outsmart iPhone.

 

 And while iPhone applications are proliferating, the researcher says the iPhone OS is sure to face stiff competition from the open-source Android platform.

 

“Apple will have to fight hard to drive its market share back above 10 percent,” Webb added.