It did not take long for the smartphone to establish itself as the main tool of our connected lives. Today, almost 4 billion people walk around with a “smart phone” in their pocket.
The smartphone is now the most popular computer in the world. According to a report from Strategy Analaytics dated June 28, 2021, there are now 4 billion smartphones in the world. More than half of the world’s population would be equipped.
5 billion smartphones within 10 years
The movement popularized by Apple in 2007 is also not about to stop. According to Neil Mawston, a head of Strategy Analytics, “ 5 billion people will use a smartphone by 2030. The curve of the world population holding a smartphone is giddy with a real turning point from 2010.
In the early 90s, the “smart phones” of the time were just a drop in the bucket in the telephony market with only 30,000 copies in circulation. At the time, the pinnacle of technology was embodied by the IBM Simon, the very first touchscreen cell phone that sold for almost $ 1,100. In 2012, thanks to Nokia phones and especially the iPhone, the symbolic milestone of one billion users had passed. Not even 10 years later, this figure has quadrupled.
” With an estimated total of 7.90 billion people on the planet in June 2021, that means 50% of the whole world now owns a smartphone. It took 27 years to reach this historic milestone Explains Yiwen Wu, analyst at Strategy Analytics.
2 billion PCs in the world
For comparison, in 2015 it was estimated that there were 2 billion and a few personal computers in the world. In 2019, around 47% of global households had a desktop or laptop. The smartphone is therefore by far the first platform for accessing IT in the world.
The smartphone has succeeded where the traditional computer has failed: to provide an efficient and inexpensive information access terminal to the whole world. By always pulling prices down, mobile phone manufacturers have democratized access to the web and made the smartphone the main (if not the only) computer tool for a large part of the population.
A little over 10 years ago, having a smartphone in addition to your computer was a luxury. In 2021, it is the other way around.
