Mobile phones with storage card slots sold 592 million units last year and will reach 1.04 billion units in 2011, Strategy Analytics said today.

Last year’s figure represents 53% of all mobile phone sales worldwide.  Of those, the microSD and microSDHC formats accounted for 57% and will probably reach 86% in 2011.  At that point, there will be strong competition from the new Universal Flash Storage, analysts said in the report.

Universal Flash Storage is supported by a standard from the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association.  It was announced in Aug. 2007 and will have transmission speeds exceeding 2 gigabits.  A draft specification is due later this year with final approval next year, according to the JEDEC organization.

High-capacity storage and fast transmission speeds are increasingly necessary as mobile phones, especially smartphones, serve double-duty as entertainment devices holding images, music and video.  “Penetration of slotted phones is already over 85% in many developed countries. We are now seeing significant growth in emerging markets where demand for music and cameraphones is taking off,” said Steve Entwistle, vice president.