Smartphone Only Countries — Caribou Digital

We’re usually a little sceptical of the claim of the rise of smart phones in emerging markets. Sure, prices are crashing and adoption is growing fast, but is there a similar pace of adoption of the data services that make them more than just a pretty thing to hold in your hand? Anecdotes abound of the status smart phone, used mainly for non-data. Smart phone adoption is growing fast but beyond zero-rated services mobile data pricing is stubbornly high.

That’s understandable for operators who are concerned they’ll lose margins on traditional voice and messaging if cheap data drives VOIP adoption. Whatsapp already dominates data traffic figures in Africa and some operators have dived right in by offering bundles designed for the service. But not everyone’s going to be happy becoming a data pipe.

The always excellent Wayan Vota writes a great missive here from his recent trip to Myanmar, claiming it will be a smart phone first country. This seems perfectly plausible. Where the delta between smart phone and feature phone pricing is negligible, and where fast data networks are being built anew, rather than upgraded from 2G, it’s clear to see how Myanmar, within a world where emerging markets had been leapfrogging wire-line straight to mobile voice, will itself leapfrog the leapfroggers and go straight to mobile data.

Myanmar may be the indicator of the future — where affordable smart phones aligned with affordable data drive a genuine, country-scale digital inclusion via mobile. It’s going to be phenomenally interesting to track what happens.

Originally published at cariboudigital.net on August 22, 2014.