Do you have Santa’s number?
It is known by most of people that the cell phone is already part of our daily life and for many it is an extension of our body. Between pros and cons, the fact is that more than 2/3 of the world’s population has a cell phone.
Finland, a country where the famous Santa Claus lives, has a ratio of around 1.7 cell phones per person according to the communication country’s regulatory authority, which means that each citizen probably owns one or more cell phones. The list of countries of habitants vs cell phones shows curious data, countries like Maldives and Panama have more than 2 cell phones per habitants. Meanwhile, more populous countries like China, India and US are close to numbers from 1 to 1, meaning the more people the smaller the ratio tends to be. It is important to differentiate the proportion of the mobile per person and the amount of devices. China has 150 times more cell phones than Finland and leads the ranking in quantity with more than 1.4 billions cell phones, followed by India, US, Brazil and Russia.
Slow Growth
Despite expressive numbers, we can consider that the growth of cell phone holders is slow. Only in 2020 should we reach the number of 75% in the proportion of mobile vs habitants in the world. You can separate the reason into three topics:
- Accessibility: For emerging countries, the cost of the cell phone can be expensive and low cost-benefit since other features such as the Internet and available content are limited. Countries like China and India are investing in more accessible technologies to penetrate these markets;
- Content: Lack of applications and relevant content leads potential users to not adopt its use;
- Digital literacy: It can be hard to believe looking at the vision of a developed country, however, there are many places that the cell phone and how to use it may be new.
Smartphone
In other hand, Smartphones have guided the growth of mobile adoption and penetration in the markets. By 2014, about 38% of cell phones were already Smartphones, this year the number should pass 50%, and by 2020 we should have 2/3 of the cell phones being Smartphone. It brings integration with other devices and applications, making the handset much more useful and attractive.
“Anything can change, because the smartphone revolution is still in the early stages” – Tim Cook, CEO Apple
As Tim Cook believes, many things are coming to change the way we live. The Smartphone has incredible power if you have the knowledge of how to use it.
The world still lives discrepancies, and access to technology can be considered one of them depending on your point of view. The economic power of certain countries dictate trends, and this can be positive or negative. Positively, this Christmas you can call Santa and provide your help for a better world, what do you think?