The Indian web and mobile markets by the numbers

Sometimes it’s just easier to get a high-level picture of a market if you look directly at the numbers. Google India Managing Director Rajan Anandan gave a fascinating talk to our Geeks on a Plane India group this week, giving us a snap shot of the data that is driving the consumers, entrepreneurs, trends and investors in the rapidly growing Indian web and mobile markets.

Anandan says: “We’re probably in 1996 in the U.S. in terms of the Internet market in India.” Here’s the stats from Anandan’s deck. India has:

  • 1.2 billion people
  • The 9th largest economy in the world, with $ 1.7 trillion GDP
  • 600 million people below the age of 25
  • 22 languages
  • 250 million in the consuming class — these are the folks that buy e-commerce
  • 900 million mobile accounts, with 600 million unique mobile subscribers (many people have more than one account)
  • 30 million PCs — it’ll be a mobile broadband world
  • Average revenue per user (ARPU) is $ 3
  • 100 million Internet users, and 120 million Internet users by the end of 2011
  • By 2015 there will be 300 million to 400 million Internet users
  • 37 percent of Internet users access the web from home, 27 percent from an Internet cafe, 22 percent from an office, 3 percent from school
  • There are 50 million mobile data subscribers
  • 5 million access Internet only on the phone
  • In 2010/2011 e-commerce emerged as a $ 7 billion market, with $ 6 billion of that going to online travel
  • By 2015 the e-commerce market is expected to be $ 40 billion
  • 67 percent of e-commerce customers by electronics and cell phones. 18 percent buy apparel.
  • 15 million 3G mobile subscribers
  • Broadband is 250 kbps to 500 kpbs fixed line
  • The use of smart phones will grow 52 percent CAGR
  • There are 37 million Facebook users
  • Google Plus use is bigger than Twitter use
  • 23 million unique users on YouTube India
  • There will be $ 1.3 trillion in online ad spend in 2011
  • The English Internet will not scale beyond 200 million, says Anandan
  • 159 million read Hindi newspapers and 31 million read English newspapers
  • There will be a massive tsunami toward vernacular content on the web, says Anandan
  • 70 percent of non-travel e-commerce is “cash on delivery” (no online payments, buyers pay cash when goods are delivered)
  • This cash on delivery market has a 30 percent return rate
  • Web 1.0 and 2.0 are happening at the same time in India, says Anandan.

Some Internet sites that have found success in India:

  • Naukri
  • Letsbuy
  • InfiBeam
  • Druva
  • Makemytrip
  • Yatra
  • 99acres
  • Snapdeal
  • Capillary
  • Flipkart
  • Cleartrip
  • Mydala
  • Jeevansathi
  • Quikr

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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  • The future of mobile: a segment analysis by GigaOM Pro
  • Report: Monetizing Digital Content



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