Between 2013 and 2017, mobile phone penetration will rise from 61.1% to 69.4% of the global population, the research firm said in its 'Worldwide Mobile Phone Users: H1 2014 Forecast and Comparative Estimates' report. Mobile phone users are fast switching over to smartphones as devices become more affordable and 3G and 4G networks advance, it added.

"More than 2.23 billion people worldwide, 48.9% of mobile phone users, will go online via mobile at least monthly in 2014 and over half of the mobile audience will use the mobile Internet next year," eMarketer said. Analysts feel that mobile data network expansion in emerging markets with a rising middle class and the adoption of smartphones and feature phones with Internet capabilities will fuel the growth of mobile Internet.

Rising low-cost smartphone devices with dual core processors and multi GB RAM being offered by many smartphone vendors will also lead to greater data consumption and a growth in communication over smart devices. In 2014, mobile devices will become the primary computing devices for many end users and smartphone users will seek full-functionality and access to major applications and data from their mobile devices.

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