I just came across a book about developing for the mobile web. In it’s introduction, it provides context to the exponentially expanding reach of mobile phones. Up until last week I hadn’t given much thought to the growth and ubiquity of phones. But now that I’m conscious of it, it’s overwhelming to think about how fast the reach of the mobile phone has spread. In a mere 35 years since its invention, the amount of mobile users has grown to 2.7 billion people. To give that context, the PC has taken 30 years to reach only 850 million users. Even more astounding is comparing it to landline phones (1.3 billion users in 110 years) or TV owners (1.5 billion in 60 years).
Even more shocking to me is the penetration of mobile phones in Western Europe. It’s an almost unbelievable number: 110% of Western Europeans have a mobile phone. That is per capita. Not just adults, but infants, children, deaf people, elderly people. Around 2.4 billion people or 36% of the planet’s population actually carry at least one phone.
The list of mind boggling numbers continues, and that’s from a 2007 article. More statistics can be found here.