With smartphones becoming an inimical part of our day-to-day lives, consumer demand has skyrocketed past previous estimations. A new report from IHS iSuppli proclaims that, by 2013, smartphones will dominate the mobile handset market, accounting for more than half of all phones sold. The update bypasses an earlier forecast that the 50 percent sales mark would be reached by 2015.

According to the HIS iSuppli report, smartphone shipments are projected to account for 54 percent of the total mobile phone market in 2013. This figure is a significant rise from the 35 percent and 46 percent in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

"This represents a major upgrade for the outlook compared to a year ago, when smartphones weren't expected to take the lead until 2015.Over the past 12 months smartphones have fallen in price and a wider variety of models have become available, spurring sales of both low-end smartphones in regions like Asia-Pacific, as well as mid-range to high-end phones in US and Europe," said HIS iSuppli's senior analyst Wayne Lam.

Additionally, the report indicates that by 2016, the figure will see a 13.4 percent jump as smartphones are estimated to account for 67.4 per cent of the market.

Traditional handsets or feature phones lack high-end software and apps, which are synonymous with smartphones. The absence of the high-end software makes them no match for the sleek Android-powered devices or the iconic iPhone. Analysts expect that, by the end f 2012, smartphones sales will outpace traditional mobile phones by a wide margin.

In 2011, feature phones accounted for 46 percent of the market. The numbers are projected to decline further to 41 percent in 2012 and will dip to 28 per cent by 2016.

Additionally, the report indicated that Samsung was the smartphone market leader in Q1 2012, surpassing Nokia. Apple, on the other hand, came in at number three.