Embracing the digital world
While the western hemisphere breathlessly awaited the launch of the iPhone 6 and Apple’s Watch, Google quietly released the Android One in India, in a purported move to bring Android phones to the budgeted class. The goal of the Android One phones is to provide everyone with “high quality” phones at a low cost. According to research done by Deloitte, in 2013, there were 51 million smart phone users in India and it expects that number to double in 2014 creating a market of users in excess of 100 million people. By some estimates, Apple won the battle that day but Google won the war.
How does this affect the Indian market? Smartphone users in other parts of the world expect to buy goods and services, conduct banking, participate in social media and conduct most of their lives on their mobile devices. They are plugged in to a vibrant digital economy that continues to seep into every facet of a person’s life. In order to keep up with an ever evolving technological advances, Indian companies are going to have to step up their game and join digital economy. And by doing so, they will be able to entice to try to join the digital economy and entice this community to do business with them.
But there is a bigger responsibility that companies in India have to shoulder. By embracing digital economy, there lies an imminent risk of creating a digital divide in the country. After all more than half the population does not even have bank accounts to its name. However, this could also end up being the tool to bridge the gaps between the ‘haves and the have nots’ so to speak. At Ness SES, we have not only embraced this concept but work closely with all our customers in various industries including banking and education to ensure everyone gets benefitted and gets the best value out of the latest technologies. We believe time to embrace this trend as it is inevitable and we are ready.
