Development of using Gadgets in Market

I remember the time when newspaper, an old radio, a landline telephone set, and a gigantic TV set which were just able to broadcast national television programs, were the only tools of entertainment available in every household of Pakistan. People use to watch national channels for every purpose like news, entertainment etc. The only channels of communication were landline telephones and post. Radio was the only thing which can play music. And we all were quite happy back then too. But as we all know that time never remain the same. It keeps on changing. But if we talk particularly about gadgets, then time has changed in Pakistan in quite a revolutionary way. Almost every latest gadget and technology is now available in Pakistan. In this article I will talk about the changing trends of using technology in Pakistan and most particularly I will talk about gadgets.

The father of all gadgets

 

Let’s start with the first gadget, which I would say has proved to be a father of all gadgets. It is none other than Mobile phone. After the technology boom in Pakistan, this gadget has gained the immense popularity. Almost 80% people living in Pakistan’s urban cities are using a mobile phone. Mobile phone has been dedicated as a technology of the decade internationally, and it should be in Pakistan as well. Today, it is the toughest job to identify a single adult or even a teen ager who does not possess a mobile phone. The great contributors in Pakistan’s great mobile revolution are Nokia Mobile, Samsung Mobiles, Sony Ericson, and other companies. The latest mobile phone technology is Smartphone technology. And Pakistan is the most potent market when it comes to smart phones. And this can be witnessed by looking the number of unofficial iphone Smartphone sales all around the Pakistan. It is one of the bestselling phones in the history of Pakistan.

Television the most commonly used gadget

But it is now in the smartest shape ever. Statistics tells that more than 70% household in Pakistan are having a television set at their household. This gadget has faced so many revolutions, from simple TV to Plasma, from plasma to LCD, and now from LCD to LED. It is getting slimmer with every passing day. People in Pakistan who do not afford a new LCD and TV buy used LCD or a Used TV, but they do have this technology no matter what and how. Another worth mentioning thing here is that trend in changing technology of a television is also increasing quite rapidly. People who once used to have a television are now having a LCD of minimum a plasma TV.

The others

Then comes other gadgets like gaming devices, Cameras and music players. The launch of gaming device from big players like Sony and Microsoft the trend of buying gaming device has clearly gone up. Youngsters are buying both portable devices along with classic devices. Music players are another bestselling gadget in Pakistan. So many companies like Audionic came into the small, and big sized music players industry, but they haven’t got the desired success because of the officially launched IPOD in Pakistan. Another most widely spread trend is of cameras. After the official launch of Sony, Nikon and canon in Pakistan, this trend seems to be increasing day by day because almost everyone nowadays posses a handheld camera.

Pakistan is not a land of smart phones

Pakistan is one of those very few countries who faced Information technology revolution. Today Pakistan’s urban areas are fully equipped with state of the art technology. And every new technology that is being introduced worldwide hits Pakistan as well. Though Pakistan stand out in the race of per capita cell phone usage internationally but when it comes to smart phones Pakistan still lacks the charm. Internationally the boom of smart phones has touched 79% approximately. But Pakistan where approximately 104 million mobile phone connections are active and approximately having the cell phone density up to 65% is still far behind in Smartphone grabs with only 5% density. This low penetration of smart phones across the Pakistan is due to so many factors.

Lack of local carrier’s interest

If we make comparison of Pakistan with any EU country or Britain than there is some enormous price differences between us. Over there all the cell phones are fully adopted by mobile phone carriers and every individual can acquire them on contract basis. An Iphone Smartphone or any of Nokia mobiles cost almost $200 or less, which is approximately 18000 PKR. But here in Pakistan no Smartphone which is 4G and having a latest platform like android, or IOS cost less than 50K. Now that’s a stretch. People do not afford buying brand new smart phones here because they are too expensive, and carriers do not take much interest in this business model as they think that culture in Pakistan does not allow this. Though some companies like Zong, and ufone have taken the first step for this type of cell phone penetration and mobilink also time to time launch different Blackberry models for business class users, but this business model did not had any immense response from public.

No 3G installation

Another big reason for low penetration of smart phones in Pakistan is the lack of 3G networks availability in Pakistan. Most of the smart phones are data centric and give best use with high network data centers. But in Pakistan most of the people haven’t even heard of 3G network and when they grab a cell phone they really don’t know how and why to use it. Though Samsung Mobiles have recently launched a new line of smart phones in Pakistan, and it is also getting subtle response too but in order to increase the numbers it would require more efforts and more time.


Classic culture

Then another factor that is somewhat stopping this smart penetration in Pakistan is lack of interest on touch screens and elegant mobile devices. Well I am talking about majority here, they do not believe on having a cell phone which is not physically very rigid and strong. And the biggest reason of this perception is made by Nokia Mobiles, who were the first market entrants here. Keeping all these things in mind so many big giants like apple, Vodafone and some other companies have not touched Pakistani market yet and launched here officially. But without any doubt Pakistani market is one of the biggest potential markets for any Smartphone manufacturer. And I am not saying this out of the blue if we look around we would see so many people using iphone, and other smart phones which obviously are unofficial versions but still there is a particular niche market in Pakistan which would love to have more and more smart phone companies coming here.