CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Within the next five years, 66% of the world's population will have a mobile phone, according to a new report.
Forrester reports the total will reach 5.5 billion people—up from 2.8 billion in the last decade.
By the close of 2017, Forrester said the percentage of the world's population with a cell phone will pass the 50% mark, noted Biz Report in its analysis.
Forrester stated that forecasts for global mobile, smartphone, and tablets show Android will capture 73% of the market share this year (over 1.8 billion users) followed by Apple (21%) and Windows (4%). Android's dominance is powered by the low-cost smartphone manufacturers in China, Biz Report noted.
The number of smartphone subscribers overtook feature phone subscribers in 2014. However, 1.2 billion people globally still use feature phones and by 2020, around 433 million subscribers will still be using feature phones as their primary phone, said Biz Report in its analysis.