Very good article.

But what will happen to Chinese? Will everyone remain bilingual or will characters on storefronts be replaced with....?

In my openion, the percentages will remain about the same even in 2020 as the author has noted in terms of total Cell Phone users.

Chiense 2.0 Billion
European 1.5 Billion
Indian 1.5 Billion
African 1.0 Billion
Arabic 0.5 Billion
Other 0.2 Billion
--------------------------------
World 6.7 Billion People

I live in China, and I think your prediction about mobile phones is right. But as for Chinese all speaking English, or being bilingual- dream on. While many Chinese are learning English, they usually only learn very rudimentary English. Interestingly, the most common second language in China is Mandarin Chinese, which Chinese students learn in school but is the first language of almost nobody.

everything was good until it said 80% has a mobile phone right after it says 1 billion so let me get this straight in 12 years over 650 million people in China die? Also as it stands The U.S and the European unions has already nearly 500million mobile phone users ugh =/

Unlikely. Like all burgeoning economic powers, shortfall is an inevitability. The Chinese economy is strong now, but it may not be later. Also, the Chinese industry is based upon cheap labor unsupported by labor unions. Should labor unions and the workers who work in the factories begin to demand larger wages, business in China would look less fruitful. Should the companies decide that labor unions in China cut too much into profit, the result will be the same as the abandonment of factories in Mexico during the nineties.
As has been proven time and again, eventually, as the standard of living rises, the people will begin to demand more, something I am not entirely sure the government of China is willing to bend that much to the people's demands without breaking themselves.

But this article may still be correct in that the technology of cell phones has become more and more integrated with cultures around the world. But in the near future cell phones may not be the measure of a strong economy, it may only be the measure of a cheapening, and a larger distribution of technology than previously known.

Also, to: Race World, you spelled Chinese wrong, there are actually just under 1.0 billion people in India, and you did not include the large remaining Asian population which includes Japan, both Koreas, Indonesia, and etc.

i agree that that was pretty funny what rick said. The 250 million people would have to be attacked or something.

if things goes according to this news then trust me guys big companies will start using more chinese and hindi and russian languages.MNC's care about there profit not for language. 4G will be addapted by china,india and other countries if they will provide CCS in all regional language.

I give it till 2015. Technology spreads like wildfire in developing countries.

Actually, China has 766 million mobile phone users as of Feb 2010. With a CAGR of > 100 million a year, China will cross that landmark in early 2012.
India has 563 mobile phone users with a CAGR of >180 million users a year.
Both countries are currently in a race to reach the billion mark...
It's gonna be a close one..

Actually QD... what you said may have been acceptable even 2 months ago... but according to the newest statistics India has been adding an average of 20 million mobile subscribers every month since Dec 2009... the CAGR projected for the year 2010 is 33%.. which roughly translates to 240 million new subscribers added in 2010 alone !!! Even 220 million (a conservative estimate) would be a jaw-drop worthy number!!! (to put things into perspective...India would probably add more mobile phone connections in this one year than all mobile connections added in India in the 22 years between 1985 and Oct 2007 or We would've added more mobile connections in one year than Russia's current mobile subscriber population...)

And although China is at 777 million mobile subscribers as of March 2010, the country is adding half the number of new mobile connections every month and is projected to plateau earlier as
1. China Mobile has virtual monopoly over their market - less competition, less drive to add more subscribers, higher tariff rates, fewer new subscriber additions.
2. China has 330 million fixed landline connections. This would deter those with landlines from purchasing mobiles - a problem India will not have to face!!!
3. The Chinese mobile market covers almost 57% of their population. In India it is just 49%

So... in short... one billion mobile phones... watch out for Feb 2012... coz India's gonna come all guns blazin' !!!

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You need to word your questions better.