Smartphone ownership among 44+ drops in urban India, rises in villages

Kolkata: Smartphone ownership among the above 44 age group in urban India fell to 14% in 2023 from 19% in 2019, while it rose to 13% from 9% in rural areas, reflecting growing rural income, availability of affordable smartphones and low-cost data, according to global research firm Kantar.

This age-group segment in rural India, which Kantar calls the ‘silver demographic’, is in fact likely to be among the key driving forces that will ring in the next wave of growth in India’s smartphone user base.

As per the findings of the Kantar-TGI (Target Group Index) study, available exclusively with ET, the gender gap in smartphone ownership has also narrowed over the past five years, even though males consistently exhibited higher ownership percentages. The sharp increase in smartphone adoption levels is pronounced among female users, suggesting a closing gap in technology access.