DUBAI: Smartphones will account for two out of every three mobile connections globally by 2020, according to a new report that pegs India as the fourth largest market of hi-tech phones in 2014.

The report, " Smartphone forecasts and assumptions, 2007-2020", prepared by GSMA Intelligence, finds that smartphones presently account for one in every three mobile connections, representing more than two billion connections.

It forecasts that the number of smartphone connections will grow three-fold over the next six years, reaching six billion by 2020, accounting for two-thirds of the nine billion mobile connections by that time.

Basic phones, feature phones and data terminals such as tablets, dongles and routers will account for the remaining connections. The study excludes M2M from the connections totals.

"The smartphone has sparked a wave of global innovation that has brought new services to millions and efficiencies to businesses of every type," said Hyunmi Yang, Chief Strategy Officer at the GSMA.

"One billion new smartphone connections are expected over the next 18 months alone," Yang said.

  According to Yang, in the hands of consumers, these devices are improving living standards and changing lives.

"As the industry evolves, smartphones are becoming lifestyle hubs that are creating opportunities for mobile industry players in vertical markets," he said.

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