With smartphone penetration in South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Australia, the UK and the US now well above 50%, the latest report from eMarketer looks to highlight several global markets where smartphone adoption is still lagging behind.
Incredibly, it’s getting harder and harder to find nations where smartphone growth isn’t immediately tangible.
All told, however, the global smartphone penetration rate among mobile users will remain under one-third by the close of 2013. But in 2017, the game will change forever when the halfway point is finally breached in many additional countries.
The coming years will see a domino effect hit regions around the world as smartphones become the norm in more places.
“South Korea led the world last year in the share of mobile users who used a smartphone, at 60%. Australia, at 53%, was the only other country in Asia-Pacific to pass the halfway mark in 2012, with Japan set to follow in 2014,” eMarketer reports. “In regional terms, only North America will boast average smartphone penetration rates above 50% in 2013 among mobile users, as Canada crosses the 50% mark this year. Western Europe as a whole will cross that boundary in 2014.”
