
India Surpassed the USA to Become the 2nd Largest Smartphone Market in the World - notlukesky
https://www.counterpointresearch.com/india-surpassed-usa-become-second-largest-smartphone-market-world-reaching-158-million-shipments-2019/
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techaddict009
Internet Era has just begun in India. More and more 1st-time internet users
are joining the wave.

Thanks (Or maybe no thanks because they created a monopoly in telecom sector)
to Jio for making the Data rate too cheap and to manufacturers like Vivo,
Xiaomi, and Oppo for making Smart Phones available at a cheap rate.

(Less than 1$ for 2-3 GB.)

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denzil_correa
> Jio for making the Data rate too cheap

> (Less than 1$ for 2-3 GB.)

Cheap is not the same as affordable. 1$ in India is equivalent to ~18 US$ [0].

[0] [https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-
parities-p...](https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-parities-
ppp.htm)

~~~
sseth
Actually these numbers are misleading - actual rates are much lower. For
example, Jio has a Rs. 149 (2.1 USD) plan for 24 days for 1 GB per day. That
works out to about 10 cents for a GB.

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ThomPete
Its important to distinguish between internet users and internet consumers.
Only India 1 (115 million) have the money to really spend, they are consumers.
India 2(approx 450 mio and are those who in large parts work for india 1) have
older smartphones or feature phones and only some of them have money to spent.

A lot of bad vc investments didnt make that distinction and got hurt.

None the less lots of opportunities there for thos who can find products or
services india 2 can afford.

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thrwer234234
Interestingly, India1 almost exclusively speaks English, and essentially
'Anglo-Saxon' in culture. It's unsurprising that business models targeting
India1 (or indeed any model, be it 'development', 'education') almost never
scale for the rest of India.

It's rather sad that after 70+ years of 'independence', the country can't seem
to shake off its servile colonial mindset. The 'nationalists' in power are no
better in this regard - indications are that they are infact worse.

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hgoel
So, being rich and educated is bad because apparently you think they're acting
like slaves, but being traditionalist is also bad?

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techie128
This is great news for India as more people are gaining access to the
Internet. However, this is only one side of the story. The ARPU (Average
Revenue Per User) in India is around 72 INR which is approximately 1 USD per
_month_. For the US, it is approximately 50 USD per month. This figure makes a
big difference as far as the revenue opportunity is concerned. This affects
telecom operators a lot more than mobile phone manufacturers. India is also
one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It is expected that not
only more people will come online but also the per capita income will grow
rapidly that will make it more lucrative in the future.

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Symbiote
Is that $1 or $50 only the user's cost of the service (for calls and data), or
does it also include spending on apps, in-app purchases, paying a debt on the
phone and so on?

If it's just the service, $50 seems very high for an average. The most
expensive phone service contract I can find here in Denmark is $45.

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lotsofpulp
Depends what kind of service you want. Best coverage and minimum throttling is
$70 to $80 per person (Verizon and ATT). Being on family plans can bring it
down to $40 to $50 though. Minimum is $30+ on Sprint or T-Mobile.

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nicoburns
I guess a lot of it is the difference in population density, but that does
seem expensive. In the UK, you can get top-level coverage (O2's network) 80GB
4g with unlimited calls/texts for £20/month (~26USD). I currently pay
£10/month for 6GB, which is a lot worse value per GB, but more than covers my
needs.

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7ewis
Pretty easy to get cheaper deals too when you've been a customer for a few
years.

I pay £5/m for unlimited data, 600mins, unlimited texts on Three. I know I've
been super lucky with that deal in particular.

~~~
lotsofpulp
I suspect in the US, how much you pay (or who you are) determines your
priority on a congested tower.

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pretty_dumm_guy
This has been fueled by cheap internet rates promoted by Jio and followed by
other players in the market. I really appreciate this development as this gave
access to countless business and introduction/improvement of few others too.
However, I am worried that this development has been led without proper
framework to tackle issues like privacy, fake news, surveillance etc.,

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baybal2
Indian cellphone market is dominated nearly completely by Chinese brands

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notyourwork
Which companies stand to gain most financially from this growth in a new
market?

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pimmen
If you have an app that solves something we take for granted in the West, and
the initial cost barrier is very low, you have a great business model for the
Indian market.

When WhatsApp cost $1 per year it had a terrific business model for the
emerging markets. Now that it’s free Facebook is complaining that they don’t
make enough money.

