With the advent of Facebook and Twitter, Smartphones' penetration is on the rise even in an emerging market like Lahore, Pakistan. International companies like China Mobile "Zong" and "Ufone", partially own Emirates Telecommunication Corporation Group have taken a good initiative to increase the popularity of the Android platform by releasing an affordable series of handsets running the OS. The cheapest of them, Ideas is available from both operators for a price of approximately $100. Another carrier Mobilink has also released Blackberry Smartphones in the Pakistani market. Business recorder estimate around five to six million Smartphone users in Pakistan. A rather bullish estimate is castes by Ericsson Pakistan which anticipates some 50 million Smartphone users in Pakistan by 2016, accounting for 70 percent of operator revenues. |