Know someone who doesn’t have a smartphone? Very soon, they’ll be in the minority.

 

New data from consulting and market research firm Pyramid Research reveals that smartphones will constitute about 60 percent of new handsets sold in the United States by 2014.

 

Pyramid Research’s recently released report – “Why BlackBerry (News - Alert) Will Be No. 1 by 2014” -- found that smartphones will account for 31 percent of new handsets sold in the United States in 2009. Two years ago, the figure stood at 15 percent – which means sales of smartphones have almost doubled in 2009.

 

The report assumes there will be a dramatic increase in demand for smartphones propelled by increased interest for messaging and mobile Internet-based services on devices with “Qwerty” keyboards, touchscreens, HTML browsers, larger screens and sophisticated operating systems.

 

According to Dan Locke, senior analyst at Pyramid, BlackBerry has nearly 50 percent of the U.S. smartphone market. However, when smartphones’ share of new handsets sales double in 2014, Pyramid expects that Apple’s (News - Alert) exclusive relationship with AT&T will have ceased. This could effectively make the iPhone available to an additional 200 million U.S. wireless customers.

 

And with the influx of so many smart devices comes an even greater need for businesses to develop and implement telecom expense management plans.

 

One way to keep expenses under wraps is to spruce up your company’s wireless procurement policy.

 

“Whenever we start a TEM implementation, the biggest savings for a client is by putting in place a procurement policy and then following it with check points at each stage to its enforcement,” Pankaj “PJ” Gupta, founder and CEO of Amtel (News - Alert), recently told TMCnet.

 

Amtel is one of the emerging providers of telecom expense management services to help enterprises rein in wireless management expenses and improve productivity.

 

A good procurement plan includes checks and balances that address “who gets what type of wireless device and plan,” said Gupta. The policy should break down wireless usage by device and job profile of the employee as well as geographical location. Then, the telecom manager can divvy up devices accordingly.

 

For an example of how companies can implement the right policies and systems, check out Amtel’s recent white paper “Taking Charge of Telecom Charges.”