‘17% of adult Nigerians don’t have smartphones’

smartphones

 By Adeyemi Adepetun

About 17 per cent of Nigerian adults are without smartphones. A study conducted by Pew Research Centre, based in Washington D.C., USA, which disclosed this, however said 39 per cent owned a smartphone, while 44 per cent use ordinary mobile phone. Nigeria, according to Woldometer is a country with 200 million populations.

  
Pew Research Centre noted that smartphone ownership can vary widely by country, even across advanced economies.
While around nine-in-ten or more South Koreans, Israelis, and Dutch people own smartphones, ownership rates are closer to six-in-ten in other developed nations like Poland, Russia, and Greece.
 
According to the study, in emerging economies, too, smartphone ownership rates vary substantially, from highs of 60 per cent in South Africa and Brazil to just around four-in-ten in Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria.
Among the countries surveyed, ownership is lowest in India, where only 24 per cent report having a smartphone.

The Pew study observed that in South Africa, which has a population of 58 million; only six per cent of the adults are without smartphones, while 60 per cent use at least one, 33 per cent use a mobile device that are not smart.
  
Further analysis of the study showed that Kenya with a population of 52.2 million, the adults without smartphone is 14 per cent; penetration of those with it is 41 per cent, while 45 per cent use mobile devices that are not smart.
Tunisia, another country surveyed, with a population of 11.8 million, 10 per cent of the adult population are without smartphones, 45 per cent has one each, while 45 per cent also use a mobile that is smart.
The Centre estimated that more than five billion people have mobile devices, and over half of these connections are smartphones. But the growth in mobile technology to date has not been equal, either across nations or within them.
  
It noted that people in advanced economies are more likely to have mobile phones – smartphones in particular – and are more likely to use the Internet and social media than people in emerging economies.
  
The U.S. firm said in most emerging economies, patterns of smartphone ownership look quite different, “in these countries, ownership rates across all age groups tend to be lower than those seen in advanced economies.