With the world spending more on smartphones, India SMBs are as well. With 54 percent of India medium businesses (MBs) currently using these devices and a clutch of innovations on the horizon, smartphone penetration and spending are poised for growth. In 2011, India SMBs are set to grow that spending to $173M, according to New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners.

“At present many smartphone users in India do not use the data services that these phones offer,” said Priti Verma, research analyst, AMI-Partners, Bangalore. “Insufficient data bandwidth is hindering usage of these services. With the advent of 3G spectrum we are observing an increase in the coverage that phone companies are able to offer and in turn smartphone penetration levels and data plan usage are on the rise,” added Verma.

Smartphone vendors can improve demand for smart phones by continuing to reduce prices as well as offering more and varied plan options. “Users prefer using only one device for presentations, email or downloading information,” opined Verma. Thus, eliminating the need to have multiple devices such as a projector, computer and a phone when conducting normal business and personal transactions.

Currently India SMBs’ installed base of smartphones is less than one million with the maximum penetration of these devices understandably in the professional services vertical. Data show that India SMBs are planning increased spending on smartphone data plan services. With many more companies recognizing the advantages of using social networking, podcasting and micro-blogging, it seems natural that the adoption of the smartphone is on the rise throughout India.

With the improvement in the quality of navigation maps and simplification of licensing terms, phones with GPS capabilities are expected to become more in demand. And the emergence of open source operating systems and 2GHz processors will also help also boost smartphones, stated the research firm.