40% of mobile phones sold worldwide are smartphones

MANILA, Philippines - Approximately 40 percent of all mobile phones sold worldwide in the third quarter of 2012 were smartphones, compared to around 30 percent for the full year in 2011, according to Ericsson’s Mobility Report.

The report also revealed that mobile data traffi c doubled between the third quarter of 2011 and the third quarter of 2012, and is expected to grow 12 times between 2012 and 2018, with total mobile subscriptions expected to hit 6.6 billion by the end of 2012, and 9.3 billion by 2018.

“Mobility is becoming an increasingly signifi cant part of our daily lives with the availability of smartphones and tablets that have changed the way we use the Internet.

We always have devices within arm’s reach, allowing us instant access to information, entertainment and social interaction,” said Douglas Gilstrap, senior vice president and head of strategy at Ericsson.

China leads worldwide in net additions with 38 million subscriptions, followed by Brazil with nine million, Indonesia with seven million, and the Philippines with fi ve million, making Filipinos the world’s fourth fastest growing mobile Internet users.

Keeping pace with the growing trend of mobile Internet use in the country and the increasing affordability of smartphones, Globe Telecom remains bullish with its mobile data business by launching relevant and innovative offers for its subscribers.

In partnership with Google, Globe became the world’s fi rst telecom operator to offer access to the World Wide Web and select Google services on Internet-enabled mobile phones without any data charges via Free Zone.

With Free Zone, Globe Prepaid and TM subscribers get easy and instant access to Google Search, Gmail, and Google+ on their feature phones and smartphone without any cost via http:/ / libre.ph.

With the new mobile browsing offer, Globe extends the unique experience of being online all the time even to its most budget-conscious subscribers.

Globe also pioneered the mobile data market with its mobile browsing plans that use megabytes or MBs, a unit that measures data in Internet- related transactions.

Through Globe Power Surf MB, subscribers get bulk megabytes of mobile data, consumable per kilobyte (KB), to surf the Internet on their mobile devices.

Using KBs or MBs in mobile surfi ng does not look at the time spent online, but on specifi c mobile browsing activities a user does such as e-mail, social networking, photo uploading or video streaming, making it more affordable to surf on the mobile phone, totally eliminating the risk of billshock.

Daily and monthly variants are available depending on a ubscriber’s need.

“The smartphone boom has defi nitely arrived in the Philippines.

This year, we have seen tremendous uptake in the purchase and use of smartphones, giving more Filipinos access to the World Wide Web,” said Jenny Granada- Echevarria, head of Globe Mobile Data Services.

“With our offers that give more value for money, Globe further enriches the mobile browsing experience, empowering more smartphone owners to maximize their devices and enjoy its full features, further driving smartphone explosion in the country,” she added. For the fi rst nine months of 2012, Globe mobile data revenues reached P24.4 billion, or six percent higher than last year.

 This was driven in part by mobile data browsing, which sustained its robust growth momentum, generating P2.2 billion, almost 55 percent better than during the same period last year.

Joerg Krahnert, managing director of leading mobile platform service provider Netbuiscits, also shared that mobile users will surpass desktop users globally by

2014 and the Web will be accessed through mobile four times than via PCs by 2015.