In a recent article for TWICE, Tejas Mehta, research analyst at Parks Associates, discussed the growth of the mobile market, particularly in regards to consumers' connected lifestyles. He revealed that a Parks Associates 2014 survey of U.S. broadband households shows more households now have a smartphone than a desktop PC.

Other highlights from the article include:

• Smartphone penetration is reaching saturation levels in the United States, and trends in other mature markets such as Western Europe and parts of Asia and Pacific are similar.
• While the growth in smartphone sales may be slowing, the emerging markets of Asia, Africa, and Latin America represent a new wave of consumers who are ready to embrace the convenience and connectivity offered by smartphones.
• Parks Associates forecasts that global smartphone users will climb from 1.7 billion in 2013 to 3.9 billion in 2018, an annual growth rate of 18 percent.
• Already, 4% of U.S. broadband households own a smart watch, and another 4% are highly likely to purchase one in the next 12 months, according to Parks Associates consumer research.

The connected consumer is the focus of the 2014 CONNECTIONS Conference, taking place next week (May 13-15) in San Francisco. One panel in particular, "Wearable Computing: Driving New Connected Home Experiences," will analyze current innovations in wearable computing and highlight the business opportunities for service and technology providers, component suppliers, and software designers.

You can read Tejas' full article here.

For more information on the upcoming CONNECTIONS Conference next week, visit www.connectionsus.com.