In the normal course of research for the book, I wondered how quickly mobile phone use got to the 1 billion mark. I figured we’re well past that number now, but I had no idea how far past it we’ve blown.Like, six times past it. We hit 1 billion in the year 2000, and never looked back.
According to the ITU, nearly 90% of people in the world use mobile phones. Holy. Cow. By comparison, just 35% of us are using the Internet. That is going to change, and fast. Everyone needs a new phone after some period of time. And the next one they get is going to be connected. Just some Monday afternoon Powerpoint fodder for you all. Now back to work.
Another reason MemoryBox will succeed!
Stunning! Are we talking about mobile and tablet devices combined? According to Cisco,
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/14/cisco-mobile-data-forecast-2012/ mobile connections will hit 10 billion by 2016!
Hi Bart – I’m John’s research manager and wanted to let you know that the ITU defines “mobile cellular subscriptions” as those using analogue or cellular technology (inclusive of 3G and 4G), so my guess is that this data includes tablets that have cellular subscriptions (e.g., iPads and Kindles with 3G). Here is a link to their definitions – see #271: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/material/TelecomICT_Indicators_Definition_March2010_for_web.pdf
Thanks a lot for the heads up on the Cisco report!
And here I was thinking everyone actually had a cellphone. What is the remaining 10% thinking? Lol. But seriously, there is not a single person I know without a cellphone. There are cellphones being sold for $9.99 in my area. If you need one just to communicate, all you need is ten bucks. =]