Among 3 billion global Internet users, India now has 277 million of its population connected online. With this number, India has beaten the US and has become the world's second-largest Internet market after China, said Mary Meeker, a venture capitalist and analyst at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, who released the annual "Internet Trends Report 2016" at the Code Conference in California on Wednesday. This has come off the back of a massive 40% in growth over the past year, during which the rest of the world only grew by 7%.
Global Internet user growth remains consistent this year, led by acceleration in India, while smartphone user and shipment growth have slowed. According to the report, India has the lowest average smartphone cost, $158 per unit, though it is about 10% of the per capita income. Over three quarters of all internet users access the Internet only through mobile devices, said Meeker.
In a sign of yet more growth to come, India has reached nearly 30% Internet penetration among the population, compared with 42% global index.
However, the report puts India along with countries like Indonesia where there are medium to high barriers due to challenges in incentives and infrastructure to acquire new users.
