Mobile phones were first launched in India in 1996. By 2005, India had the fifth largest number of mobile phone users globally at 90 million users. This grew significantly such that by 2013, India had overtaken the US and Russia to have the second largest number of mobile phone users in the world at 752 million users. Smartphone penetration in India is still relatively low compared to global rates, but growing rapidly, especially in urban areas and among younger users. Low prices of smartphones by local manufacturers are helping to drive adoption, particularly in rural areas, positioning India for substantial continued growth in smartphone penetration in the coming years.

1. MOBILE PHONE PENETRATION
IN INDIA

2. HISTORY
The first mobile phone was launched in India on 31 July 1996.
The first mobile handset production made by Motorola
First Mobile service provider was Modi Groups in 1995 and started in Kolkata,
somewhere it was signed that mobile service provider was launched in 1994
India’s mobile subscriber base is set to cross 752 million connections by the end of
January 2013.

3. RANKING OF COUNTRY BASED MOBILE PHONE
USERS IN 2004-05
Rank
Countries
No Of Users
Date
#1
China
393,428,000
2005
#2
United States
201,650,000
2005
#3
Russia
120,000,000
2005
#4
Japan:
94,745,000
2005
#5
India
90,000,000
2005
#6
Brazil
86,210,000
2005
#7
Germany
79,200,000
2005
#8
Italy
72,200,000
2005
#9
United Kingdom
65,500,000
2005
# 10
France
48,058,400
2005
# 11
Mexico:
47,462,110
2005
# 12
Indonesia
46,909,970
2005
# 13
Turkey
43,608,960
2005
# 14
Spain
41,327,910
2005
# 15
Korea, South
38,342,320
2005
# 16
Philippines
34,779,000
2005
# 17
South Africa
33,959,960
2005
# 18
Poland
29,166,390
2005
# 19
Thailand
27,378,660
2004
# 20
Argentina
22,100,000
2005

4. Ranking Of country based on Mobile Phone Users In 2013
Ranking
Country Name
Number of Mobile Phone
Users
1
China
859000000
2
India
752000000
3
United States
279000000
4
Russia
238000000
5
Indonesia
220000000
6
Brazil
202944000
7
Vietnam
154000000
8
Japan
121000000
9
Pakistan
111000000
10
Germany
105000000

6. By Comparing Both figures it shows that the no of mobile phone
users increasing day by day. In 2005 India was in 5th position
with 90 million ,But in 2013 India is in 2 nd position with 752
million Mobile phone users

7. Mobile Telephony
In August 1995, Chief Minister of West Bengal, Shri Jyoti Basu ushered in the cell
phone revolution in India by making the first call to Union Telecom Minister Sukhram.
Sixteen years later 4th generation services were launched in Kolkata.
With a subscriber base of more than 750 million, the Mobile telecommunications
system in India is the second largest in the world and it was thrown open to private
players in the 1990s. GSM was comfortably maintaining its position as the dominant
mobile technology with 80% of the mobile subscriber market, but CDMA seemed to
have stabilised its market share at 20% for the time being

8. Market share of major operators in india

9. Smartphone penetration in India
Demand of Smartphone has continuously been incresing since last couple of years,
resulting in frequent shift of Global Smartphone OS market share. Android Smart
phones which have been fueling the penetration of the device around the world by
providing low price . It’s really exciting to see an increasing adoption of Smartphones
in some emerging countries such as China, Brazil and India. Despite of Smartphone
market growth, Android is the only Smartphone OS witnessing explosive adoption in
these emerging markets
Smartphone penetration in India is low when compared to global market share
reports. There exists tremendous untapped growth potential for this market;
Smartphone penetration in India is currently among the lowest in the Asia-Pacific
region.

11. India's market share for Smartphone is stood at 2.2 percent for 2011,
rising to 2.5 percent in 2012. This figure is expected to increase to 8.5
percent by 2016, making India one of the countries that will see the largest
growth in this segment. Sales of Smartphone priced around $100, featuring
dual-SIM capability and local apps, is boosting local demand.
Reduced prices of handsets have increased the penetration of
Smartphone, in future this number is set to increase manifold. Low-cost
with feature-packed Smartphone from manufacturers like Micromax,
Karbon, Lava, Celkon etc are fueling the growth.

12. Urban India
More than 27 million Smartphone users in Urban India, which constitutes
9 percent of all mobile users in Urban India. The numbers are higher in the
large metros of 4 million plus population with one Smartphone user among
ten mobile users.

13. Smartphone Users – Urban Indians
Smartphone ownership is among young adults. In fact, the age group of
18 – 24 tops the list with over one in ten owning a Smartphone device.
Further, those below the age of 18 and above 40, see ownership figures of
just 5 percent.

14. In last two years, rural India has shown an incredible growth in internet users. In rural
India, the penetration of claimed internet has surged to 4.6% in 2012 from 2.6% in
2010, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 73% in the last two years. On the
other side, the penetration of active internet users has mounted up to 3.7% in 2012
compare to 2.1% in 2010. In addition to this, it’s also expected that the number of
claimed internet users in rural India will touch 45 million figures by December of this
year.
As number of Smartphone users and local language contents on the internet are
increasing, the growth of internet users will undoubtedly beat all the projections in the
next two years.
Smartphone penetration in rural India is growing. Adoption in the rural and suburban
market has significant effect on the overall Smartphone penetration in India. While this
is a challenge for the Smartphone manufacturers, it also provides huge opportunity for
the segment to grow in the country by multifold.
The local manufactures are main growth drivers in this market providing the smart
phones at the lowest cost.
Though the Smartphone penetration in India currently among the lowest in
Asia/Pacific, the market in India seems to have great potential for future.