I just came across a book about developing for the mobile web. In it’s introduction, it provides context to the exponentially expanding reach of mobile phones. Up until last week I hadn’t given much thought to the growth and ubiquity of cellphones. But now that I’m conscious of it, it’s overwhelming to think about how fast the reach of the mobile phone has spread. In a mere 35 years since its invention, the amount of mobile users has grown to 2.7 billion people. To give that context, the PC has taken 30 years to reach only 850 million users. Even more astounding is comparing it to landline phones (1.3 billion users in 110 years) or TV owners (1.5 billion in 60 years). Even more shocking to me is the penetration of mobile phones in Western Europe. It’s an almost unbelievable number: 110% of Western Europeans have a mobile phone. That is per capita not just adults. That includes everyone from children to deaf people. Although it's hard to know how many unique people have mobile phones, I'm still amazed there are 2.7 billion mobile accounts.

There are enough mobile accounts for
over 1/3 of the world's population.

It seems as though the mobile phone is now the best way to share information globally.

The list of mind boggling numbers continues. And all this comes from a 2007 article, the numbers are probably more dramatic today. More statistics can be found here.