Stampede: Razorfish and Terra chart the rise of the New Digital Middle Class in Argentina, Brazil & Mexico.

An excellent report from Razorfish and Terra is out this week with some eye-opening statistics and observations about the rise of the New Digital Middle Class (NDMC) in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

“Never have we seen such a rapid change in the digital evolution of a region like we’re seeing unfold in Latin America now,” begins the report titled A Debandada (The Stampede). While the Portuguese title is an unmistakable nod to Brazil (BTW, on pace to become the world’s fourth largest economy by 2020), the purchasing power and preferences of C-class consumers earning between $700 and $2,000 per month are examined in all three countries.

So what do they want? Smartphones, but not “smart” in the sense of expensive iPhones and Blackberries with tons of features they don’t need. C-class smart means an affordable Internet-enabled device with a camera, radio, mp3 and, increasingly, TV.

But what about the expensive carrier charges? Fear not, the NDMC are as street-savvy as they are status-conscious, so they often piggyback free Bluetooth connections to share content like new movies and video games, often purchased on the street for a few pesos.

Obviously social media is a major draw for the NDMC, and it plays a pivotal role during the Discovery phase when they first realize “the entire world is at their fingertips.” According to Stampede, 71% of Argentines use IM, 8.1 million are on Facebook and Twitter is gaining momentum, although the rise in Brazilian tweets is something of a regional phenomenon, as recently explained in Time. The full Stampede report is available now on SlideShare.

For more news on the Argentina tech sector, visit our archives and download the new issue of InvestBA Privada.