Barcelona: India will lead the world in smartphone adoption with a net addition of 350 million connections in 2016-20, says a GSM Association report released in Barcelona.
"India will lead the growth with around 350 million net smartphone additions," GSMA Intelligence Senior Analyst Gu Zhang said in Barcelona.
The estimates are based on the GSMA Intelligence Consumer Survey 2016 conducted across 56 countries on the mobile usage trend.
Smartphones accounted for 51 percent of mobile connections at the end of 2016, with smartphone penetration greater than that of basic and feature phone in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa. In the developed world, smartphone penetration was 65 percent at the end of 2016.
"At 65 percent in 2016, the developed world has reached a mature level of smartphone adoption. Assuming that there will continue to be some residual demand for basic and feature phones as well as data-only devices, we expect only incremental smartphone growth in this region from 2018," Zhang said.
"To mitigate against this threat, operators in developing countries must look to offer smartphone content that is both accessible and relevant to local consumers and revenue-generating," Zhang said.
She added that according to the survey, the average frequency at which smartphone owners in the developing world access digital services such as online shopping, government services or mobile banking is around half that of the developed world.
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