According to a new report from Nielsen, China is the only country among the BRIC countries where smartphones are predominant, claiming that two-thirds of China’s mobile users owned smartphones as of the first half of 2012. However, feature phones – which Nielsen defines as devices with no touchscreen, Qwerty keyboard or operating system – are owned by 80 per cent of mobile subscribers in India and 51 per cent of subscribers in Russia. In Brazil, the picture is more mixed, with 44 per cent of subscribers using feature phones and 36 per cent using smartphones.

Overall, Nielsen thinks there is still room for smartphone growth in emerging markets, which fits with projections that more low-cost smartphones will penetrate those countries in the years ahead.

FierceWireless: Report: Smartphones still have room to grow in Brazil, India and Russia; TelecomTV content partner.