With the availability of 3G, the internet experience on smartphones will improve by leaps and bounds, and this will mostly be lapped up by the younger population which likes to stay in touch. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistan is a young country, and with a high population growth rate, it is getting even younger. According to the latest data available, 70% of Pakistan’s population is under the age of thirty. And about two thirds of Pakistan’s entire Facebook population of roughly nine million users, is under the age of twenty-five.
According to reports and surveys, the majority of users on Facebook use it as a meeting point, to socialise, to use FB messenger and to stay in contact with friends and family across the world, across Pakistan, and even in the same city.
Pakistan has a fast growing population of teenagers, people in their 20s and in their 30s. Disposable income has been on the rise in the middle-class as well over the past few years if one looks at the rise in retail spending, the continued growth in the number of Sim-card issued and the rise in the number of handsets being sold in Pakistan.
And the bulk of this spending, predominantly on commodities which cannot be considered as essentials, is coming from the younger population which will continue to drive this growth. Also, there are more and more families with two incomes now – as younger women enter the workforce in greater numbers – so the potential is even bigger.
So how will this translate into more growth for the information and communication technology industry? Plainly put, Pakistan is not a country where people have a propensity for savings. We like to spend what we earn. We are appearing to be earning more, or at least a segment of the population is.
Smartphones are not only becoming more popular, they are becoming cheaper and with more buying power, it is expected that the smartphone penetration, which stands at just about 10% now, will increase exponentially.
Right now about 76% of people surf the net at home, and about 22% say they do it on their cellphones. While the average online session is very short, at just seven minutes, about 80% of the online population spends an hour on the net. And right now internet penetration is just 15%.
This will shift because of two reasons. One is the aforementioned, the rise in smartphone popularity and affordability, and the second is the expected launch of 3G.
With the availability of 3G, the internet experience on smartphones will improve by leaps and bounds, and this will mostly be lapped up by the younger population which likes to stay in touch, they like to hang out, they like to meet up and hear stories and they like to tell their friends what they are doing. In a country like Pakistan where there are no real hangouts for young people, virtual hangouts like Facebook are expected to become increasingly popular.
And more and more will be doing this on cellphones or on tablets.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (7)
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Karachi can never afford smartphones =P Namaloom fiasco..
funny that once, i was going somewhere, when i saw a begger using a cellphone, i knew he was a begger because after using her cell phone she started his profession i.e Begging.
well Pakistan is not a poor country, i would be surprised to hear even a single person sleeping hungry at night, people are very giving and generous. Well one of the first preference of Pakistani is when they get a paycheck is to spend on their mobile. Every single person in Karachi has a mobile, as far as i know. we are becoming more and more advance in this technology, hope we become more advance in other things.
And to the author, although the written piece is great, i just wanna tell you that Pakistani people know how to party, real hangouts are getting more popular than social hangouts, the social network is just used for organizing and to call everyone for a real hangout.
Yes, we need 3G and 4G technologies fast. That way not only telecom sector will boom but alot of other technological advancements
@Sandip: And what does Indian reports rely on? Freakographics?
Sandeep you are right that "demographics with empty pockets doesn’t mean much?" however this huge population potential means too much to the MNcs to to miss. empty pockets or not, these young people will let go of one meal, than not to use on line social media platforms.
So 'Sandeep" while you keep focusing on "the empty pockets" syndrome, the large companies know how to pull cash out of these"empty" pockets, which will in turn bring investment and hence benefit to the society. A similar phenomenon is currently being experienced in the confectionery industry, where huge capacity building is being done by all leading manufacturers in both the organized as well as the unorganized sector due to the high local demand for their products.
Did someone mention that demographics with empty pockets doesn't mean much?
Well its true that pakistan is heavan for telecom industry but the another fact is, we are too late in opting 3G technology. Saudi Arabia is opting 4G and we are behind saudi arabia just because our govt. weak policies. I wish we could come up with some optimized solution soon