Long ago, the wise ones at the SearchIndia.com blog predicted that in the not too distant future all mobile phones would be smart phones.

Indeed, we are fast moving in that direction.

Smartphones grew at a scorching pace in the third quarter of this year and were up 89.5% year-over-year, according to the number counters at market researcher IDC.

Vendors shipped a total of 81.1 million units in the third quarter of 2010 compared to 42.8 million units shipped during 3Q09.

The below chart tells the story:

In the first three quarters of 2010, vendors shipped a total of 200.6 million smartphones, up 67.6% from the 119.6 million units shipped during the first three quarters of 2009.

Smartphones are said to be growing over six times the overall mobile phone market indicating strong demand worldwide.

IDC is forecasting that by the end of 2010 more than 20% of all devices shipped to partners worldwide will be converged mobile devices, the first time this has occurred. In comparison, 15% of all devices shipped in 2009 were converged mobile devices.

After using smartphones for well over two years, we can’t imagine using a regular mobile phone without all the bells and whistles in our iPhone.