It’s clear that cell phone usage has revolutionized the way we live. Now that they are very inexpensive phones available with affordable monthly plans, everyone it seems possess a cell phone. In fact, more people now own a cell phone than have a TV or an automobile. While about 75% of people living in Canada and the United States own cell phones, some European countries report that their cell phone users is approximately 140%. Some think that by the end of 2008, over half of the world will subscribe to a cell phone service.

Africa is considered the quickest growing cell phone market in the world.  In some African locations cell phone ownership is reaching 100% each year.  The corporate bigwig, Vodafone, just completed a study into cell phone use in Africa.  They discovered that Africans overall considered cell phones a contributing factor in business profits increases.  For many Africans cell phones give the only option for communications where landline phones are unreliable or don’t even exist.  In all parts of the developing world the 100% saturation of cell phone business is on a mega blitz.  Other countries like China and India, both of which have large populations, are seeing the number of new cell phone subscribers increasing in amounts that are larger than some european countries populations.

All over the world, people are loving cell phones more and more. A lot of people see it as an extension of their own identities and personalities. The ability to customize one’s cell phone means that cell phone handsets vary as much as the people who own them. This is good news for the businesses in phone accessories. Also, ring tone companies gain major profits in line with the growing popularity of cell phones.

Even beyond the concept of planned obsolescence, cell phones represent disposable technology. Handsets run an 18-month replacement rate, and people often change just because they are tired of the phone. The lure of a new release, with more bells and whistles, often motivates their decision making process. Some buy new phones because they lose or break the old ones, but more often than not, it is the desire to have the updated capability that drives their decisions. Manufacturers of cell phones are working overtime to accomodate customers, and are updating their products at a rapid pace. This in turn feeds the consumer need for newness, and the phones are being replaced as quickly as the new designs are available.

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The statistics for cell phone owners are now limited to only wealthy, ownership is not associated with income.  Some people have nothing much else other than a cell phone.  Even some people that are victims of famine own cell phones.

Owning a cell phone is becoming cheaper and cheaper with each passing year. Handsets are seeing a reduction in prices with a new one today costing about half what it did 10 years ago. Network companies are competing with each other by offering cheaper tariffs and many offer free talk time and text message holidays. The second hand market has also made the availability the cheap cell phone a reality for millions of subscribers around the world.

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