Related to the never-say-die hypothesis that with more globalization and global capitalism, "the poor are getting poorer". This table says that hypothesis is, once again, wrong. Even the poor in poor countries like Bangladesh, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, India, Indonesia, China, etc. can afford to buy mobile phones. Many of them are even buying 3G and 4G phones.
I like their title, "The 100 million club". The Philippines is one of the 14 countries in that club worldwide. The reported noted that "Iran and Egypt are knocking at the door" of the club. It further noted that
• The top 14 countries account for more than 61 percent of the world’s total mobile subscriptions.
• 29 percent of the world’s mobile users live in India and China. Subscriber numbers in either country dwarf the number of subscribers in third place USA.
And here is the overall global picture. Some 90 percent or 5.4 billion people in the developing world, have mobile phone subscriptions. Until about two to three decades ago, many middle class could not even afford to buy a mobile phone. Now even taxi drivers, bus drivers, ambulant vendors, have smart phones.
The report also noted the following:
• Portio Research – in the excellent free Mobile Factbook 2013 predicts that mobile subscribers worldwide will reach 7.5 billion by the end of 2014 and 8.5 billion by the end of 2016.
• More than half of the world’s mobile subscribers are in Asia Pacific. With 3.6 billion subscriptions, according to the ITU, Asia Pacific accounts for 52.1 percent of the global number. This share is expected to rise – Portio estimates that Asia Pacific’s share of the mobile subscribers will be 54.3 percent in 2016. Portio also predicts that by 2016 Africa and Middle East will overtake Europe as the second largest region for mobile subscribers.
There. The anti-capitalism, anti-globalization logic is proven to be wrong again. Global capitalism works for the poor. The fierce competition among mobile phone manufacturers, among global telecom companies and related sectors or industries have forced the various players to keep churning out more products and models that cater to all segments of consumers, both in the developed and developing world.
Less government interventionism and regulation, more competition among players and capitalists, they are led by an "invisible hand" to serve the interests of the poor which may not be their original intention.
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See also:
Telecom oligopoly 1: Smart takeover of Sun, April 02, 2011
Telecom oligopoly 2: Slow internet in the Philippines, April 13, 2011
Steve Jobs and innovation, October 07, 2011
Fierce Competition is Fair Competition, January 22, 2013
Globalization, Mobility and Inequality, February 18, 2014