While Apple and Samsung are hell-bent on kicking each other where it hurts as they jostle for dominance in the global smartphone space, one can only begin to appreciate the intensity of this battle in the context of the magnitude of the global market.

New studies indicate that global smartphone adoption, and specifically the adoption of iOS and Android, is outpacing the adoption rate of any consumer technology in history.

A recent report by mobile analytics research firm Flurry compares smartphone adoption to other recent technology. It concludes that current smartphone adoption is 10 times faster than that of the 80s PC revolution, while also being twice as fast as the 1990s Internet boom and three times faster than social networking adoption.

That’s impressive, and perhaps a little frightening, considering the sheer scale of this smartphone invasion.

Flurry found that there were an estimated 640 million iOS and Android devices in use in July this year. The firm adds that it can detect over 90% of all active Android and iOS devices globally and tracks over 200 000 apps.

China recorded the fastest growth in active devices, between July 2011 and July 2012, with a 401% increase and 100 million new active devices (bringing the total to 128 million).

The US still has the most active Android and iOS handsets, with a total of 165 million (and just 30 million added in the last year). Furthermore, says Flurry, China could overtake the US by year-end.

The study also shows that all four BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are represented in the top 10 growth countries for smart devices, reinforcing their new stage of advanced economic development, according to Flurry. Brazil recorded 279% year-on-year growth in active devices, while Russia saw 189% growth and India 171%.

The IDC says some 144.9 million smartphones were sold worldwide in the first quarter of this year, while a total of 491.4 million units were sold in 2011.

A JP Morgan prediction states that 657 million smartphones will be sold in stores in 2012, while the IDC expects that 2012 smartphone sales should reach 686 million. Furthermore, the prediction is that global smartphone sales will rise to 982 million in 2015.

Either way you look at it, smartphones are the next big thing. Forget tobacco, precious metals or cocaine… he who controls the smartphone market, controls the world.

Apple’s recent legal victory, in which it was awarded $1.05 billion in damages, after a US jury found that Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad, is just the first blow in a turf war that will no doubt get very dirty. Watch this space.

Happy reading!

Martin Czernowalow