China is now the biggest market for smartphones and tablets, said Christopher Riley, MD of Pretoria-based notebook and accessories retailer, The Notebook Company – and one of the biggest suppliers of Apple iPads in South Africa.
“Right now China is reporting the highest number of active iOS and Android devices. Additionally, it is among one of the fastest growing markets in terms of the adoption of smart devices. Obviously, China is a huge market – but it has now also proven that it is a quick adopter of the latest technology,” said Riley.
Until the end of January 2013 the USA came in as the number one smartphone and tablet market with 222 active smart phone devices, followed by 221 million in China. But it is thought that, by mid-February, China nudged ahead of the USA.
“The percentage penetration is naturally higher in the USA due to the population comparisons, but China’s uptake is quite spectacular.”
China has a population of around 1.3 billion people, compared to the USA’s population of about 310 million people.
“Interestingly,” said Riley, “India, with a population of around 1.2 billion people, only has 19 million active smart device users. This points to an affordability issue and the state of the haves and the have-nots in that country, more than likely,” said Riley.
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