The Pew Research Center conducts research on the ownership of smartphones versus basic cellphones. As of 2019 most people in the countries with “advanced economies” have a smartphone, but in countries that are considered “emerging economies” there are fewer people with smartphones.

For example, in South Korea 95% of adults have a smartphone, and 5% have a basic cellphone. In Sweden 86% have a smart phone, 12% have a basic phone, and 2% have no mobile phone. In Indonesia 42% have a smart phone, 28% have a basic phone, and 29% have no mobile phone. In Nigeria 39% have a smartphone, 44% have a basic phone, and 17% have no mobile phone. And the lowest numbers for smart phones are in India where 24% have a smartphone, 40% have a basic cellphone and 35% have no mobile phone.

The basic cellphones can send and receive calls, texts, and even do some basic mobile banking, but not access apps and effectively use the Internet.

Younger people, those with more education, and those who speak English are more likely to have smartphones.

Note
In many of the emerging economies, very few households have a landline phone. For example, in Africa, only 3 percent of households have a landline phone. Landline phones never penetrated in Africa. Africa skipped landlines and went straight to cell phones. (However, the number of homes in the world without landlines is actually growing, as many places abandon landlines to only have a smartphone).

Takeaways

When you’re designing products for a particular part of the world, find out whether that area has a large adoption of smartphones.Although “mobile first” is a common design principle, don’t assume that mobile use is consistent around the world. Before planning a smartphone app, make sure you understand the smartphone penetration for the countries where your product will be used.