Even when the economy was at its worst, sales of some mobile devices were still very robust. Smartphones and netbooks continued to sell very well despite the economy. Research firm ABI Research has released a new report that claims mobile device shipments will almost double by 2015.

ABI reports that 1.2 billion mobile devices will ship this year in all categories of wireless devices from mobile phones to netbooks, and other consumer electronic devices. By 2014, the shipments of these devices will have almost doubled to 2.25 billion.

Cellular modems are expected to grow at a rate of 40% annually and ultra mobile devices will grow at 67%. "The next five years will see a shift in the breakdown between types of mobile devices shipped," comments industry analyst Michael Morgan. "Today, wireless handsets rule the roost, with other mobile devices accounting for only 40 million shipments and cellular modems only 60 million. While handset shipments did actually decrease between 2008 and 2009 due to the global recession, the other two segments in fact grew very aggressively.