At 1.22 billion, China's mobile phone user base almost equals India's population

The Chinese government reveals that the country now has a gigantic 1.2 billion mobile users, according to news reports circulating the web. The number was achieved by the end of October and makes it the country with the largest user base for mobile phones. By the end of 2012, China had 1.11 billion mobile phone users. 

The report further reveals that among the total mobile phone user base, 817 million mobile phone users which accounts to 67.19 percent are connected to the Internet. Moreover, 34.5 percent of them are 3G users. Provinces of Guangdong, Henan and Sichuan have shown the most growth in the past ten months in terms of mobile phone users.

iPhone 5c launched for markets like China

While the number of mobile phone users is increasing, fixed lines are reportedly decreasing drastically. In the first ten months of this year, the number of fixed line users has decreased by 8.82 million. The country had 269 million fixed lines by the end of October, revealed state-run Xinhua news agency. Now, the country has overall 81.9 percent of mobile phone users and mere 18.1 percent fixed line users. 

We already know that some US chipmakers are hitching their wagons to Chinese smartphone makers and are even willing to sacrifice profit margins to boost sales volumes in China. As demand in developed economies stagnates, many chip makers have started diverting their attention towards developing markets like China. Apple recently – and for the first time – had separate event for the Chinese media during the launch of its newest iPhones, in a bid to lure more buyers and carriers to their phone.