Decoding The Decade Of Smartphones

Connecting a billion Indians

- Aditya Soni

Over the years, mobile phones have rapidly evolved from being handheld communication devices to bringing the whole world into one window. From text-based feature phones to touch and voice command smartphones, the journey of mobile phones in the country has been an exciting one.

Smartphones today augment every aspect of our personal and professional lives. From calls and texts to video chat and social media, smartphones have streamlined the way we communicate with just a few taps of our fingers. They have helped connect people across the world and revolutionised the availability and accessibility of information.

The cutting edge of innovation

Smartphones have been consistently driven by innovation. In the early days, touchscreens and internet access on the phone changed our expectations from mobile phones. The ability to install apps expanded the way customers were able to use their phones, to allow this personal computer to do almost anything a customer demanded. As an old 2009 iPhone advertisement said, “There’s an app for that” - today, there are over 2.5 million apps on Google Play store and 1.84 million on the Apple app store, which shows how strong the app ecosystem has become. Indians have downloaded more apps - 12.3 billion in 2018 - than residents of any other country except China.