Mobile devices to outnumber people by 2016

Mobile devices are set to outnumber humans by the year 2016, according to a Cisco study, Zee News reports.

The study; which examined the growth of mobile Internet, video, data and smartphones, predicted there would be more than 10 billion mobile connected devices by 2016, more than the estimated global population of 7.3 billion by the United Nations.

The technology company expects the increase in mobile phone use to come largely from Africa, News.com.au writes.

Mobile phone use in Africa is predicted to experience a compound annual growth rate of 104% – along with the Asia Pacific region, which is tipped to experience 84% growth in mobile phone ownership.

A huge increase in Internet use is being driven by smartphones and tablets that stream music and videos; these alone will increase by 95% a year between now and 2016, the study explains.

Cisco predicts that M2M traffic will account for 5% by 2016, as demand for real-time information grows across a range of sectors, Women in Technology states.

Other predictions in the report included an 18-fold rise in all mobile data traffic, led by a surge in the number of mobile Internet-connected devices.