Nearly 64% of Indian respondents who were part of a global survey in 2018 owned a mobile phone and 24% owned a smartphone. The Pew study shows that while India’s smartphone ownership has increased over time, the rise has been slower compared to other emerging economies surveyed (India, South Africa, Brazil, Philippines, Mexico, Tunisia, Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria). One in four Indians have smartphones, but the gap between smartphone ownership in India and other emerging economies has widened over the years, as shown in the graph below. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp were considered as examples of social media in India by the study. Delving further into the Indian context,it can be noted that the sharpest contrast in smartphone ownership was among those with different education levels (Lower education: below secondary; higher: secondary or above).

Source: The Hindu February 08, 2019 07:41 UTC