This year, the number of mobile devices that are actually in use is expected to surpass the number of people on earth with 7.7 billion mobile phones and tablets compared to 7.1 billion people.Already, there are more than 1.4 billion smartphones in use around the world, which is coming very close to surpassing the number of PCs at 2 billion. In fact, there is one smartphone for every 4.5 people on the planet and an additional 1.8 million smartphones are sold every day. That's five times more than the number of babies born each day!These are just some of the statistics that come from a new infographic from Penny Stocks Lab (shown below). The Golden Age of Mobile infographic puts the extensive reach and continued growth of the mobile market into perspective. For example, did you know that 189 million mobile apps are downloaded each day? You might be even more surprised to learn that number is more than five times the amount of data that is uploaded to Facebook each day. Did you know that 191 billion email messages are sent and received using mobile devices each day? To give that number some perspective, consider this---that's more mail than the U.S. Postal Service processes in an entire year.Here are a few more statistics along with some comparisons to put the data into perspective from the infographic. The average smartphone user in the U.S. spends 3.3 hours per day using his or her device which is:

• More than two times the amount of time they spend eating each day
• Equal to more than one-third of the time they spend sleeping each day
• Equal to more than one-third of the time they spend working each day

You can see all of the data in the infographic below.

What Does This Mean for Authoritative Content Publishers?

Earlier this year, mobile surpassed television for content consumption, and we've known for some time that it's critical for publishers to create mobile-friendly content if they want to succeed in the future. These statistics just prove that we're past the point of talking about prioritizing mobile. If you're not already leading with a mobile-always content strategy, you're already in trouble.There is no doubt that mobile devices make our lives easier and they make it easier for audiences to consume content. However, they also add to the growing cost of content clutter. Be sure to review the Cost of Content Clutter infographic published by Newstex to learn how the growth of the mobile market and the abundance of content affects Authoritative Content publishers and how to make sure your content gets noticed.Image: Karlis Dambrans