Abstract

This IDC Market Presentation provides an overview of smartphones used for online education or home-based learning as schools were shut down in various countries across Asia/Pacific, with school closures lasting almost a year in many of these emerging markets. Schools and parents had to make a difficult choice between no learning or using devices as a stopgap solution even in the absence of a structured online education platform and curriculum as well as the corresponding supporting infrastructure. Smartphones turned out to be a popular choice in these mobile-first economies as they have much higher penetration than that of any other household device. Along with various free-to-access tools, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Zoom, and Google Meet, and despite the smaller screen size and unstable internet connection, smartphones have provided an intermittent solution, even though far less than ideal, to provide continuity in the learning journey for many children across these countries.

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