With trends the way they have been going, it was only a matter of time before we'd see the one billion mark in smartphone usage. It really shouldn't surprise anyone. Android alone has over 500 million activations and its biggest competitor, the iPhone, has reportedly sold almost a quarter of a billion units. That is 75% of a billion between just those two.

According to Strategy Analytics, it took the smartphone market 16 years to reach the one billion plateau. That comes from the humble beginning of the Nokia smartphone and travels up through today. Smartphones were a little obscure for many years until Blackberry made one everyone could enjoy. Then the iPhone rode that popularity to the top. Now Android sits on top as king of the smartphone market.

While it took 16 years to get to the first billion, Strategy Analytics also claims that the two billion smartphones milestone will only take about three years. So anyone who thinks smartphone sales will be taking a dive soon, that is probably not even close to the case.

So the smartphone market is going to get even bigger?

According to the experts, it's going to double in size over the next three years. There is a good chance that smartphone manufacturers already knew this information and is likely why they're pushing their own products so hard. There isn't one OEM CEO who wouldn't be salivating ferociously at the prospect of a billion new customers.

The main thing to remember, however, is that smartphones are still the minority in mobile phone usage. Only about one in seven people own a smartphone, which means feature phones still rule the mobile market. So don't be so quick to poke fun at a loved one for not getting with the times. After all, they outnumber you.

It has been a wild ride over the last decade and a half. What started out as a sole Nokia smartphone has grown into a blizzard of tech. Are any of our readers one of the early adopters of smartphones? Tell us what it was like for you back then.