In China, you can’t exist without a smartphone, because for all existential things you have to do (paying bills, buying tickets etc.) , you are forced to use the almighty wechat app. Smartphones are a tool to manipulate and to spy on the population. It is a tool utilized by the ruling class, to control the masses. I hate the future and I hate “progress”.
Roughly 12% of Americans do not, so ~45 million people do not. I’m sure that number is higher in plenty of other countries. Yes, most people have them, even overwhelmingly so, but there are enough people who do not that we cannot just assume everyone does. Nor should everybody be forced to buy a piece of hardware every few years (or sooner, accidents happen and some products are terrible) for hundreds of dollars.
If we expect everyone to have them, they should be extremely cheap or even free for those who are struggling to make ends meet. But good luck selling people on the idea of giving away smart phones to low income people. Remember “Obama phones“?