Smartphone is the primary device for Digital India

According to a recent study by Qualcomm and CyberMedia Research (CMR) the smartphone has emerged as the single most critical device for accessing Digital India.

A whole new generation of Indians, across all demographics, have emerged that have not used a desktop or a laptop, but rather have leapfrogged to the digital world by embracing mobile technologies, especially smartphones.

While the feature phone has remained a communication tool, with limited functionalities for playing games and listening to music, the smartphone has emerged as an aspirational tool that replaces the functions of many other devices – whether it is a music player, a camera, or even a payment terminal.

“The smartphone market in India is growing at an exceptional pace and the opportunities therein are limitless. Adding impetus to the growth is affordability of data services, thus enabling Indians to gain access to many services including various schemes and services offered by the government of India,” said Larry Paulson, Vice President and President, Qualcomm India.

“The smartphone enables consumers in India to not just communicate, but rather to go online and perform many key functions in their lives – whether it is learning new information, connecting to friends, making and accepting payments, navigating through traffic, accessing government services, finding and applying for jobs and many more,” added Paulson.

“No other nation has embraced mobile phones the way India has. By connecting Indians to the internet, mobile phones have opened many new possibilities for them to perform key functions: whether it is communications or education, transportation or emergency situations, e-commerce or government interface,” said Apalak Ghosh, Head – Industry Consulting Group (ICG), CMR.

“An overwhelming majority of those surveyed, do not possess a desktop, laptop, or a tablet. For them, their smartphone is the primary, and only, platform to the digital world,” said Prabhu Ram, Head – Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.