Google, along with IPSOS and MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) have released a report revealing the pattern of smartphone usage, globally. To begin with, Indian smartphone users were found to be more active than their U.S counterparts However, India has less than 50 percent of the number of smartphone users, than in the U.S. These days a smartphone isn’t just a calling and SMSing medium, and this survey will vouch for that. Smartphones these days cover a much larger base, they're used for - searches, news, watching TV, listening to music, and several other functions from an endless list. While tech savvy users know how to get the best out of their smartphones, there are several users who satiate themselves with just the basic functions that a phone has on offer. Not surprisingly hence, youth falling within the age bracket of 18 to 29 form the largest consumer bracket for smartphone usage.
According to Lalitesh Katragadda, Country Head-India, Products for Google, “The survey reiterates ourbelief in ‘mobile first’. Culturally, even beyond the well-educated, mainstream Indians are technology curious and device savvy. We believe that the Internet like telephony did, is making the leap from wired internet to mobile, and hundreds of millions of Indians will go online on their mobile devices. At Google, we are building a powerful, simple, personable mobile ecosystem that helps every user be connected as they want and when they want to.”
On comparing smartphone Internet usage with that of a desktop, the survey found that 56 percent of smartphone owners in India prefer accessing Internet multiple times a day on their phones. Narrowing down further on this, the report revealed that 59 percent of males accessed Internet through their smartphones more often, than compared to 48 percent by females. 78 percent of smartphone owners indulge in searching from their device, while 77 percent of users, used their smartphones for listening to music, 35 percent of smartphone owners are glued to newspapers, books, magazines or TV and 33 percent enjoy playing games.
What surprised us is that unlike the common, unsaid belief that people use their phones more often while travelling, than at work or home, the survey revealed that 97 percent of smartphone owners were heavy users when at home. At work, men have a higher usage at 80 percent, compared to women who're at 71 percent. Talking about online shopping, people still don’t prefer doing it via mobiles and prefer a desktop/laptop over it.
Compared to Internet and PC penetration in the U.S., India has a lot of catching up to do. We have to understand that the number of Indian smartphone users is way less than U.S. However, if we pit the current Indian smartphone users against their U.S. counterparts, then we'd know that 76 percent of Indian users access social networking sites through smartphones, as compared to 54 percent in the U.S. E-mail use is up to 81 percent in India.
