May 2009, Manifesto #6: The next billion customers are already here

• Robert Fabricant, Executive Creative Director, Frog Design (Profile)
• Haslina Dawam, General Manager of Messaging & Support, Celcom Mobile Malaysia (Profile)
• Sian Townsend, User Experience Researcher, Google (Profile)

• What is the practical reality of the mobile user experience in various developing markets? How are these experiences influenced by the incredible diversity of cultures and locales the mobile industry has hitherto lumped together under the homogenous title of 'emerging' economies?
• What does taking a customer-centric approach to the mobile experience look like from the perspectives of a local operator, a global web giant and a multi-disciplinary design agency?
• How can we shift the balance of knowledge in mobile user experience projects to better reflect the unique, but very different, values of local expertise and global experience? How can these two elements be combined to enable established companies and developing markets innovators to get the most from their partnerships?

• Illustrating lifestyles from the developing world
• In-depth video interview on emerging markets

• 565.2m: There were over half a billion mobile subscribers in China at the end of February 2008. This compares with about 210m internet users. | (Source: Bloomberg)
• $41bn: Wireless Intelligence estimates Chinese network operators will spend around USD 41 billion between 2009 and 2010 on building out 3G coverage after government authorities issued 3G licenses at the start of 2009. The mobile industry is pinning much of its hopes for revenue expansion on network construction deals in China over the next two years. | (Source: Wireless Intelligence)
• 6bn: Number of worldwide mobile subscribers in 2013 - up from 3.3 billion at the end of 2007 | (Source: Portio Research)
• 239.1m: The Chinese handset market will total 239.1m handsets in 2009, growing by 7% year-on-year and accounting for more than a fifth of global handset industry shipments. | (Source: iSuppli)
• 89.9m: There were 89.9m mobile subscribers in Pakistan at the end of 2008, with 6 operators competing for customers. The market leader is Mobilink, with 31.7%, while Instaphone, the country's only CDMA operator, had just 0.36% share. | (Source: Wireless Intelligence)
• 117m: The number of Chinese accessing the web from their mobile handsets grew by 113% from 2007 to 2008, reaching 117m by the end of the year. The mobile phone is now the dominant method of internet access in China. | (Source: China Internet Network Information Centre)
• 8.00%: The profits of fisherman in Kerala (India) have grown by 8% since mobile phones were introduced in 1997 and consumer prices have fallen by 4%. The fisherman have used the phones to call ahead and find the best prices for their catch at a wider range of markets on the coast, thereby eliminating in-efficiences in the market dynamics which were leading to wastage and large variations in income. | (Source: Robert Jensen, Harvard)
• 67.00%: About 500m people or 67% of the population living in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be within mobile coverage. This will rise to 90% by 2012 as part of a $50bn investment programme by network operators. | (Source: GSM Association)
• 300m: About 300m people in India survive on less than GBP 0.50 per day | (Source: Neoncarrot)
• 0.44%: GDP is estimated to rise by 0.44 percentage points for every additional 10 phones per 100 people. | (Source: Leonard Waverman, London Business School)

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