Smartphones will account for the majority of global mobile phone shipments in 2013, according to a new report from the analyst, IHS iSuppli. This is two years earlier than previously predicted.

IHS iSuppli’s Wireless Communications Market Tracker Report forecasts that smartphone shipments will account for 54 per cent of the total mobile phone market in 2013, up from 46 per cent in 2012, and 35 per cent in 2011.

“This represents a major upgrade for the outlook compared to a year ago, when smartphones weren’t expected to take the lead until 2015,” says Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS. “Over the past 12 months, smartphones have fallen in price, and a wider variety of models have become available, spurring sales of both low-end smartphones in regions like Asia-Pacific, as well as mid-range to high-end phones in the US and Europe. The solid expansion in both shipments and market share this year of smartphones will make them the leading type of mobile phone for the first time, and shipment growth in the double digits will continue for the next few years.”

IHS forecasts that by 2016, smartphones will represent 67.4 per cent of the total mobile phone market, by which point, feature phones will account for just 28 per cent of the market, with a third category of entry-level, ultra low-cost handsets, accounting for 4.2 per cent. IHS forecasts that feature phones will account for 41 per cent of the market at the end of this year, with entry-level handsets accounting for 14 per cent of the market.

The IHS report also reveals that Samsung became the overall worldwide leader in handsets during the first quarter, displacing Nokia, which had occupied the top spot for well over a decade and is now at No. 2. Apple, ZTE and LG rounded out the Top 5, accounting for 75.5 per cent of all handset shipments, up marginally from 74.7 per cent in the fourth quarter last year.

There’s more information about the report here.

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