Why India matters to Silicon Valley - CNET

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India added 100 million new users to the Inteet in 2015, taking the country to more than 400 million users -- more than there are residents of the US. But with another 800 million yet to be connected, the world's biggest tech companies are eager to be a part of India's consumer tech boom in the decade ahead.

Growth in the nation's tech markets is happening faster than ever -- it took a full decade for India to grow from 10 million Net users to 100 million, a milestone it crossed around the tu of the century. The recent meteoric growth won't be stopping anytime soon. Between Google last month beginning its mission to hook up train stations around India with free Wi-Fi and Facebook's controversial Free Basics initiative, which will give limited e-services to the poor at no cost, expect the numbers to only accelerate.

While there are many factors in India's technological emergence, smartphones -- cheap ones, in particular -- are chief among them. In 2015, smartphone sales in India eclipsed those in the US for the first time ever, according to Counterpoint Research. China remains the world's largest phone market, but it's nearing saturation point, with growth stalling in 2015 for the first time. The US is a similarly tough nut to crack, with 79 percent of people already owning smartphones, according to ComScore.

China and the US "are visibly slowing down owing to saturation levels," IDC Research Manager Kira Khumar said, "and in terms of annual growth rate, which in 2015 exceeded 30 percent levels for India, the country would be on top in relative comparison."

Only 18 to 20 percent of Indians own smartphones, according to Khumar, so the real fun is just getting started.