A new study released on Tuesday indicates that about 23 percent of all handset sales in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2008 were smartphones. This was up from 12 percent of all handset sales in the fourth quarter of 2007.
... prices for these advanced phones dropped. In fact, the average price of a smartphone during the quarter dropped by 23 percent from $216 in the fourth quarter of 2007 to $167 during the fourth quarter of 2008, NPD said. Apple's new iPhone 3G, priced at $199 with a two-year service contract with AT&T, helped lead the growth in smartphone volumes, but also led the industry in terms of declining prices.

This is great news for web services and cloud computing. Smartphones create the environment for the next wave of innovation in data network content and access technologies. In the long run, smarphones will play the role of a disruptor for laptop devices.