Smartphone sales are booming despite the poor economy. One of the big reasons sales of smartphones are so robust is that the devices are converged and allow the user to replace multiple devices with one item, saving money.

According to research firm Strategy Analytics, the market for GPS enabled smartphones will hit 77 million units worldwide in 2009. That is a growth rate of 34% compared to the 57 million units sold in 2009. There are several factors driving the growth according to the firm.

The first reason is that there is wide consumer acceptance of GPS devices in vehicles. The second is that mobile navigation services are improving. The final reason is that there is an increasing presence of mapping applications from major phone vendors.

[via Strategy Analytics]