How many mobile phones have been sold so far? If you've ever asked you, do not worry, as the World Bank can give you an idea. At the end of 2011 there were registered 5.900 million mobile phone subscriptions. That means that right now we have passed the mark comfortably six billion. But the World Bank indicates that there will be more mobile subscriptions than people on this planet. Is this a new era in mobile telephony, or fear of a collapse in that market has become a bit more tangible?One of the many causes that led to the famous Great Depression in the '30s was an extreme increase in production capacity. Basically, if you make too much of "anything", and there is nobody to sell, you have a problem. Eighty years later, one of the markets we certainly can identify with one extreme is the production of mobile phones. However, there has been no further depression, because the majority of people have taken a refresh cycle moving quite short. The documentary "Buy, Pulling, NOW" Cosima Dannoritzer (which you can access through our forum) explores this point momentarily when a young man reveals that changes your cell phone "once a year." The year 2011 ended with 5.900 million mobile subscriptions, so we would be closer to that strange condition equivalent to that of a "mobile per capita."
But is it really so? A recent World Bank report called "Maximizing Mobile" (244 pages, if you're interested) tells us we are on that path in terms of subscriptions, while making a significant difference: One thing is a mobile, and another is a subscription . The World Bank says that in a total of 90 economies around the globe, the mobile phone penetration has exceeded one hundred percent over last year. The first indicator to consider is that a person can have more than one SIM card at your disposal, and even use them at the same time depending on phone model you have, while another describes the use of mobile as a central element of communication many homes, shared among family members. Another fact revealed by the report is that voice communication (though the signs tell us otherwise) remains the main use for mobile phone text messaging but followed very closely. On average, 80 percent of the gain comes from the text operators, more than 106 billion dollars in 2010.
Historically, countries called "rich" are the first to receive care from providers and manufacturers, but entire regions flirting with the point of saturation, may have to start looking to other markets that were originally considered low-income, and now can access more widely to mobile phone through a reduction in the price of basic devices. The best proof of this is still retired Nokia 1100, with 250 million units with a significant advantage retains the title of "best-selling mobile" on the planet. Distribution may not be partners, but we are in the path of an equivalent to a SIM card per person has several questions, starting with this: How many lines can sell?
