Latin America is currently the continent with the fastest growth in smartphone and tablet adoption.
By the end of 2021, there were 439 million mobile phone users in Latin America, with a population penetration rate of 69%, of which smartphones accounted for 76%. There are more than 380 million mobile Internet users, with a penetration rate of 60%.
In the future, "half of the new users will come from Brazil and Mexico," and countries with low penetration such as Guatemala and Honduras will also see significant growth. Latin American smartphones are expected to account for 83% by 2025.
By 2025, smartphone penetration in Latin America will reach 83%
In 2021, Latin America consumed an average of 7.9 GB/month of mobile data, which is expected to increase 3.3 times in 2027 to 34 GB/month, growing faster than the global average (the average global mobile data consumption in 2021 was 12 GB/month and is expected to grow 2.3 times in 2027).
At present, 4G technology still dominates, and the number of 4G networks has exceeded 410 million by the end of 2021, with a penetration rate of 59%.
4G usage will peak in 2024, reaching 70% adoption, followed by more consumers turning to 5G services. As of June 2022, all regions of the Chilean country have achieved 5G coverage. 22 cities in Brazil have achieved 5G coverage. 5G networks are already available in 40 cities in Mexico, reaching 56 million people.
Distribution of mobile phone use by country
Distribution of network technology, mobile penetration and smartphone usage in Brazil
Mexican network technology distribution, mobile phone penetration and smartphone usage
Chile network technology distribution, mobile phone penetration rate and smartphone usage
Argentine network technology distribution, mobile phone penetration and smartphone usage
Distribution of Internet technology, mobile penetration and smartphone usage in Peru
The Android system still dominates
Except for Puerto Rico and Belize, iOS has the highest share of 58.38% and 49.97%, respectively. In the rest of Latin America, the Android operating system dominates.
In Brazil, for example, Android has a usage rate of 84.11% and iOS usage is 15.67%; Mexico has a usage rate of 77.7% for Android and 21.97% for iOS.
Colombia: Android (84.79%); iOS (14.81%)
Ecuador: Android (81.07%); iOS (18.46%)
Peru: Android (89.67%); iOS (9.63%)
Bolivia: Android (92.84%); iOS (6.68%)
Chile: Android (79.11%); iOS (20.4%)
Argentina: Android (91.04%); iOS (8.72%)
What do Latin American users do with their phones?
Although smartphone activity is currently focused on communication and entertainment, the use of mobile devices will trend towards the integration of services such as "mobile commerce", "mobile banking" and "mHealth". As of 2021, the number of mobile game users in South America exceeded 113 million. In 2020, more than two-thirds of respondents reported spending more than 40 minutes a day playing mobile games.
Secondly, COVID-19 has also led to changes in consumer behavior, with e-commerce, video streaming and social networks becoming some of the other online services used in everyday life in Latin America. In 2021, 400 million people in the region (almost two-thirds of the total population) were active users of social networks.
Mainstream mobile phone brands
The most purchased mobile phone brand in Latin America is still Samsung, accounting for 39% of the market share, but the market share has decreased a lot compared to previous years.
Motorola ranks second with a market share of 24%. Xiaomi is in third place (9%).
The Apple brand ranks fourth with a 7% share. Finally, OPPO also has a place among Latin Americans with a market share of 4%.
Major Latin American mobile phone brands
- Major mobile phone brands in various countries
In the Brazil/Argentina market, the top three brands in market share are Samsung, Motorola, and LG.
The top three brands in the Mexican market are: Motorola, Samsung, OPPO.
The top three brands in the Chilean market are: Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola.
The top three brands in the Peruvian market are: Xiaomi, Samsung, Motorola.
In addition to Mexico and Peru, the first mobile phone brands are Motorola and Xiaomi, and the main brands in other countries are South Korea's Samsung.
How long you spend on your phone by country
The country that spends the most time on mobile phones is Brazil (the second largest globally), where residents spend up to 56.6% of their daytime on mobile phones.
Argentina ranks second with 53.8% of the day using mobile phones. This was followed by Colombia and Chile, with 53.20% and 51.59% of the time spent browsing on mobile phones per day, respectively.
Mexico ranks seventh, with 48.6% of the time using a mobile phone.
Data source:
- The Average Screen Time and Usage by Country
- GSMA Association Report 2022
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