Internet on mobile phones and e-commerce are set to lead the trend in the IT sector, Google India MD Rajan Anandan said on Friday.

Speaking at the 13th annual Confluence at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Anandan identified trends such as mobile internet, social networking, e-commerce and internet video as being the most important trends for any technology company to take advantage of.

"Mobile phones are the future. More smartphones and tablets are being shipped in India than desktops and laptops. In fact, about 40 per cent of search queries for Google India comes from mobile phones as against US (14 per cent), UK (6 per cent) and Russia (11 per cent)," he said.

"In 2011, 21 million smartphones are likely to be sold in India. This is likely to grow to 32 million in 2012, and eventually reach 100 million smartphones by 2015. Also, the emerging opportunities for innovation in India are in areas like mobile, e-commerce and SaaS (Software as a Service)," Anandan said. He further said that about 67 per cent of e-commerce in India happens in mobile and consumer appliances.

According to Anandan, the mobile phone space is leading the way with currently 50 million mobile internet users in India. About USD 500 million worth mobile phones would be bought to India this year alone, he said on the scope of mobile internet.

Anandan also spoke of growing importance of vernacular websites and cloud computing and its implications for companies in the internet space.