Largest Number of Smartphone Users by Country

Smartphone has become a basic necessity these days, and unlike the past days when a cell phone was only used for merely calling or sending messages, now the smartphones have entirely changed that image of a phone. Now people use their phone for primary purposes like calling and texting and adding to that almost everyone uses their phone to manage their social media. In fact, people spend a lot of their time on social media and due to that owning a smartphone has now become necessary for every individual.

It is said that the world has become a global village and our mobile devices have become a medium of connection. The consumer habits have evolved with the latest gadgets like smartwatches. The voice assistants in our phones are equipped with Artificial Intelligence which also makes it an essential part of our daily routine. Adding to that, 5G technology is right around the corner. That will attract even more users to buy the latest handheld devices.

If we look into different age groups, smartphones have become the primary device of people from all age groups. Everyone uses their mobiles for doing everything from checking their bank balance to set reminders and playing games. Although the tablets are also becoming quite common but still, a limited audience uses them. It’s not just an essential part of our casual life but also a significant part of our work lives.

Countries With Most Smartphone 

Down below is a list of countries with the most amount of cellphone users:

Sr No.	Courtry	Population (in Millions)	Penetration	Smartphone Users
1	China	1,415	55.3%	782,848,000
2	India	1,354	27.7%	374,893,000
3	United States	326	77.0%	251,688,000
4	Russian Federation	143	63.8%	91,865,000
5	Brazil	210	41.3%	87,172,000
6	Indonesia	266	27.4%	73,155,000
7	Japan	127	55.3%	70,327,000
8	Germany	82	78.8%	64,830,000
9	Mexico	130	45.6%	59,597,000
10	United Kingdom	66	82.2%	54,713,000
11	France	65	76.0%	49,598,000
12	Philippines	106	44.9%	47,858,000
13	Vietnam	96	37.7%	36,378,000
14	South Korea	51	67.6%	34,562,000
15	Italy	59	58.0%	34,394,000
16	Spain	46	72.5%	33,631,000
17	Turkey	81	37.9%	31,060,000
18	Thailand	69	43.7%	30,217,000
19	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	82	35.1%	28,748,000
20	Egypt	99	28.0%	27,852,000

China With Most Smartphone Users:

In the list of countries with most smartphone users, China comes on top of the list, and almost 55% of the population uses smartphones in their daily lives. Basically, a smartphone user is the one that uses or operated a smartphone about once a month. In China, there are total of around 782 Million smartphone users which are more than half of the total 1.4 Billion population of China.

The user count is also that high in China because of the massive population of China, but if we look at the penetration rates, that is too much higher than in many other countries. Technology has penetrated much in China and being one of the best technology and electronics manufacturer itself; China is also one of the largest consumers of these products itself.

India With Massive Smartphone Users:

Right after China, comes India with a large number of smartphone users. Although the smartphone penetration rate is much low in India still 27.7%, people of the total 1.35 billion population uses smartphones for various purposes in their daily lives. Adding to that, a recent study conducted by International Communication Association showed that India is now the second largest manufacturer of smartphones as per the statistics of the year 2017. If look back in 2014, India only produced 4 million smartphones in the year, but as of the year 2017, India produced a total of 11 Million cellular phones, making it the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones. The manufacturing industry is still growing even more significant now, and there are plans to produce even more smartphones next year.

The United States with 3rd most Smartphone Users:

The US stands third on the list. The total population of the country is nearly 326,767,000, and out of the total number of people, more than 251 million individuals use these handheld mobile devices. Back in 2010, the penetration rate was near 20.2% in America. But as of the recent stats, the penetration rate 77%.

A report by Deloitte stated that the people of the United States look at their cell phones for 14 billion times per day. That makes an average of 52 views per person. Among all the handheld devices, the smartphone remains on the top of the line as more than 85% of the users choose it as their favorite. The percentage of laptop is about 77%.

The growth in the penetration of the two age groups (44 to 54 and 55+) has been seen to be the strongest in the recent. At this time the penetration is understood to be the highest in the young generation as the saturation levels have gone above 90%.

Countries With Most Smartphone

Down below is the list of countries with most smartphone penetration:

Sr. No	Country	Smartphone Penetration
1	United Kingdom	82.2%
2	Netherlands	79.3%
3	Sweden	78.8%
4	Germany	78.8%
5	United States	77.0%
6	Belgium	76.6%
7	France	76.0%
8	Spain	72.5%
9	Canada	72.1%
10	Australia	68.6%

UAE With Most Penetration Rate:

Among these countries, the United Arab Emirates is on top of the list with smartphone penetration much higher than any other countries. In UAE about 82.2 percent of the total population uses smartphones in their daily lives. Approximately 7,845,000 people of the total 9,543,000 population use smartphones in the country.

As per the estimation, there are even more smartphones here than the total number of people. In UAE, there are several companies and every company tries to produce the best phone for the users. So that provides the people with even more options while buying a cell phone. Adding to that, the partnership with telecommunication communication provides people with amazing data packages. The rates of phones have also declined in the country, so better mobiles are getting cheaper, and the cheaper ones are getting better. LTE and NFC are the basic requirements of the users here, and almost all the manufacturers offer these facilities in their devices. At this time, Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus and Note 9 are quite popular here.

The best telecom companies here include Emirates Telecommunications Corporation and Emirate Integrated Telecommunications Company (du).

Netherlands: Penetration Rate 79.3%

Global Mobile Consumer Survey 2017 conducted by Deloitte stated that Netherland is one of the leading nations where smartphone penetration is highest. If we look at the trends of usage among the different age groups in the Dutch government, we acknowledge some interesting facts. The older age groups in the Netherlands still have increasing penetration rates. The young and the adult ones have quite stable rates now.

The research shows that the mobile phone has become the primary device for news reading and video calling. That seems to be the result of larger screens and better displays. For watching videos, the age group 18-24 prefers a smartphone over the tablet.

Adding to that, it has also become a significant device for online shopping which includes both, buying services and goods from a vast variety of e-commerce platforms. As per the adaption of 4G, Netherlands is still quite lagging as the percentage is about 68%.

Adding to all these facts, the Dutch nation is also quite loyal to their service providers. They don’t switch their MNO provider. The most significant providers in the Netherlands include KPN (46%), T-Mobile (36%) and Vodafone (36%). The people in the age group 55+ seem not to change their smartphone quite often. 38% of the people in this age group have never turned their phone.

Samsung and Apple are the most trusted brands here. Most of the people use phones from either of the manufacturers. Huawei is the third most used brand here, but the people who have the phones don’t seem to recommend it to anyone else

Trends in Technology:

It has been about four decades since the mobile phone was released. These handheld devices used to be entirely different in the past, and now they have evolved to form a possible shape, a better display and equipped with many useful features. In most of the developed countries, the penetration rate goes beyond 80%. With 4G technology readily available in the market, the users have fast access to the internet. In a survey conducted by Deloitte, most of the users said that they check their smartphones five minutes after they wake up. Adding to that, a regular user checks his phone up to an average of 5 times a day.

Mobiles have also made banking really easy. One-third of the people connected with technology make their payments directly from their mobiles. For the young generation, the cellphone is the favorite medium for watching videos. As compared to that people in higher age group prefer television, tablets or laptops. Technology allows us to connect our gadgets with our mobiles. That is called IOT (internet of things). This helps us automate and sync all our gadgets according to our preferences. But the smartwatches, smart cars and other devices are not quite popular. The penetration rate is 3% in most of the countries across the world. In developed countries, it is around 7%.