2.7 Billion Served: Mobile Phone Usage Dwarves Everything Else

Cameron Moll’s new book on Mobile Web Design points to an enlightening article by Alan Moore in which he compares mobile phone adoption to other technologies. The key paragraph:

Now we have context. 800 million cars, 850 million personal computers, 1.3 B fixed landline phones, 1.4 billion credit cards, 1.5 billion TV sets. How many mobile phones in use today? In use today, yes, 2.7 billion (technically 2.7 billion in January, not December). They sold 950 million phones last year and the total worldwide mobile subscriber base grew from 2.1 billion to 2.7 billion. Three times as many mobile phones as automobiles or personal computers. About twice as many mobile phone owners as those of fixed landline phones or credit cards. And almost twice as many mobile phones in use as TV sets.

2.7 billion. That’s a staggering statistic. Add to that the buzz around the iPhone and rumors of both a Google and possibly a Yahoo phone, and it isn’t possible to ignore the mobile web any longer.

I’m excited. So much opportunity for new discovery, new applications, and ways to make people’s lives better.