Adam Leach, devices principal analyst of global advisory and consulting firm Ovum, described smartphones as "the silver lining of the declining handset market" and came out with a forecast that smartphone shipments will reach 406.7 million by 2014.

Leach pointed out that in 2008, for the first time in the mobile industry's history, consumer demand for third-party applications started driving both handset sales and revenues for developers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). An example of this was Apple's success with the App Store that has prompted other players to focus on devices that can enable third-party developers to easily bring applications and services to mobile phones.