Ideas & Opinions

Emerging markets catching up to cutting edge

By Mike on 05 August 2008

INTERNATIONAL – We’re big fans of the work done by Jan Chipchase, Nokia’s globetrotting human behavioral guru. Studying the mobile habits and cultures in emerging markets and beyond, his keen insights make for interesting reading. And his latest short essay Small Objects Travel Further, Faster is no different, raising an intriguing point:

“As objects become smaller, pocketable is about right – the speed at which they move around the planet significantly increases. The lead time between what is cutting edge in London and Lagos (or vice versa) is closing. Rapidly.” Jan Chipchase

Read on…

This is an interesting insight that could indeed be a piece of the bigger jigsaw in explaining scenarios such as the rapid evolution of mobile technology in regions such as India. Deeper into his short essay Chipchase goes on to flesh out this opinion:

“The dissemination is helped by: a shared appreciation of the value of the mobile phone and what it enables – creating demand pull; the sheer volumes of an infrastructure that supports a billion+ products a year industry; the replacement cycle of feature-rich mobile phones in developed markets and formal and informal ways of getting these products into local markets; and the fact that these markets are resourceful in keeping these products alive, long after they would have entered landfill elsewhere.”Jan Chipchase

Click here to read the full essay.

It’s definitely worth a look. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Photo from exfordy

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