HTC are today expected to annouce the highly anticipated Google Dream / G1 mobile phone. It’s the first phone to run on Google’s Android operating system and potentially an insight into what the future holds for online communications in India.
Google's new Android?
Having been in India for two months now it is clear that mobile phone usage has one up on Internet penetration. India is the world’s second largest mobile subscription market after China with 290 million users contributing to a $100bn market that added an extra 9 million users in June 2008.
Compare this to an estimated 29 million active internet users and you can see the kind of catch up the web is playing. The funny thing is though, it doesn’t have to – the latest breed of next gen hand sets allow the majority of users access to all the services they require on the internet from the palm of their hand. And Google are well aware of this – Eric Schmidt famously stated back in 2006 that India has the potential to become the largest internet market in the world. I wonder if he knew then it would be a Google product that consolidated it?
You have to appreciate how much more mobiles are actually used over here – I’ve mentioned before that companies such as Idea allow everything to be done securely via your handset: utility bills, pizza orders, cinema tickets, bank statements – all things the mobile SEM industry has been dreaming of for years now in the UK, and on a scale that’s breathtaking.
There was a widely reported boost in Google searches brought on by the launch of the i-phone last year, well imagine the potential uplift 290 million Android enabled users could bring to Google and the businesses who advertise with them if the platform takes off. Add to that Google’s impressive 60% market share in the subcontinent and you can start to understand Eric’s early optimism a few years back.
India knows it too; that’s why the government has appointed a joint association for both mobile and internet use in the country. All figures contained in this post can be found on their site.
Tags: Google, google android, google dream, mobiles in india
