Smartphone & Indian Youth: How a Device is Helping a Nation Grow?
The first Android smartphone handset that I finally got to own was back during my days at the University. Infact, to speak in a general sense, many people belonging to my generation could probably hold a mobile phone set with glory and claim their ownership only after they had passed out from school. The scenario however, looks slightly different now and even school kids today own a smartphone device.
There are about 27 million smartphone users in Urban India alone. Going by the Nielson survey reports and by my own observation above, this is how the Indian age demographic of smartphone ownership is likely to look like –
Percentage of Smartphone Owners Age Groups
5% <18
13% 18 – 24
8% 25 – 30
8% 31 – 35
8% 36 – 40
5% 40+
The biggest spike of the technology usage could be traced among the adult teens belonging to the age group of 18 – 24. One of the most satisfying explanations for this could possibly be that affordability is no longer a major issue. Buyers having a budget between Rs. 5000 – Rs. 6000 can easily buy a smartphone device. The average price of an Android smartphone set could start from as low as Rs. 3000. Speaking of which, 60% of the mobile market share in India is dominated by Android now, followed by Windows at 20%, Symbian at 12%, iOS at 7% and others (such as Blackberry, Linux,etc) at 1%.
Speaking from the market point of view, according to TRAI, there are approximately 900 million mobile users in the country. India is one of the fastest growing cellular markets, where every handset maker is trying his best to offer buyers full suite device sets.
This is How the Indian Youth is Actually Using the Smartphone
You can point out the main reason for this dramatic growth of smartphones, as the desire among the users belonging to the young age group, to have constant internet access so that they can stay connected with their friends and relatives via the social networking platforms. It is a somewhat globally recognized trend, which is discovering an exponential growth opportunity in the developing countries. Apart from this, the decreasing cost of the device, availability of a wide range of features and data cost charges are some of the other popular causes that have made smartphones a very popular device among the Indian youth. Ranjit Yadav, the country head of Samsung Mobile & IT observes, “The rapid adoption of new technology by Indian consumers; the need of consumers to stay connected 24X7 and to do more while on the move are some factors that are driving consumer preference for mobiles”. Infact these section of the generation can be called the young #TEchnocrats.
The General Pattern of Smartphone Usage
The average usage pattern of a smartphone by an Indian youth account for 87% of it being utilized to make online searches, 80% for social networking, 72% for chatting and for sending web mails, 59% for watching online videos and for usage of maps and navigation guides. The 55% include other activities, of which 30% account for banking and finance, shopping and traveling; while the other 25% is utilized for availing mobile television on smartphones.
The Indian youth is indeed the primary driving force behind the growth of the smartphone market in India. Nevertheless,…
How is it actually helping the Indian youth to evolve?
To begin with, the greatest strength of a nation is its education system that focuses on nurturing an individual talent from within. The smartphone is a primary technology through which the digital world is slowly coming in sync with the real world and hence, needs and expectations too are rapidly changing to introduce a sustainable level of quality to the entire education system. Following online video lectures, filling out examination forms, checking out results and reading e-books are some of the emerging trends among the youth today. Besides, the availability of high speed internet connection like the 4G on smartphones that allow downloading, uploading and streaming to carry out at blazing speed has opened the gates to new avenues of learning. According to Nielson study reports, about 17% of the students who have completed their post graduation and have entered a professional stream are smartphone owners and the other 12% are still college goers.
Besides, the emergence of smartphones with the integration of different apps had facilitated a shift in teenage communication and information landscape at a much better disposal than before. With modern mobile messaging apps like Hike have already around five million registered users and WhatsApp claims a number of around 200+ active monthly users.
Quite interestingly, there are some who feel that smartphones are mostly used by the youth as a means of accessory more than as a means of communication device. According to Nielson’s Prashant Singh, studies reveal that 50% smartphones do not use any cellular data.
“That group is using the phone more as an accessory than a device to access the internet, use mobile applications…” – he says
While smartphone explosion is just a step closer to becoming real, network service providers could be facing the biggest challenge for they need to work out their way to find out how to make consumers use more of their mobile data.
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Debarup
Hi friends, This is Debarup Mukherjee, a Digital Marketing Specialist, SEO Consultant & Blogger. I have over 12 years experience in Digital Marketing. I love to write on technology and SEO. I have built many blogs, one of them is Techno World News, specially for Technology & Internet. Hope everyone like and enjoy this blog and get valuable information which you can share with your friends. You can ask me anything on my Twitter, Facebook or Google+ Account