Indian smartphone users among biggest global data consumers: study

Smartphone users in India are in the heavy usage band globally, spending over three hours on an average on their devices, according to a study by telecom equipment maker Ericsson published yesterday.

The study shows, Indian users spend 3 hours 18 minutes on average everyday with their smartphones, of which one-third is spent on apps. Further there has been a 63-per cent increase in app usage in the past two years, the study added.

However, the report reveals that 76 per cent of existing mobile broadband users did not want to pay more for guaranteed better mobile data experience.

"India has higher smartphone usage compared to even the US, where the average is 132 minutes (2 hours 12 minutes). In some of the Asian countries, it ranges between 40-50 minutes," Ericsson India vice president (strategy and marketing) Ajay Gupta told reporters in New Delhi.

The respondents said they checked their phones 77 times a day on an average, with about 26 per cent saying they did so over 100 times a day.

"Smartphone usage is now no longer limited to just social media and chat apps. People are using mobile apps like WhatsApp and WeChat for business purposes, while many working professionals said they shop online using smartphones even while at work," he said.

Most people buy a smartphone for social and chat apps, though, 40 per cent of mature smartphone users, say their usage was no longer limited to social purposes, The Indian Express reported.

Mobile apps such as WhatsApp and WeChat are used by 24 per cent  business purposes to sell products and services, expanding their reach to new customers. In the absence Wi-Fi availability or fixed broadband at home, 8 in 10 smartphone users would continue to access mobile internet using mobile broadband.

''Maturity is an important dimension in mobile broadband behavior. Mature users consume almost twice as much data as new users. As consumers explore more apps and services relevant to their interests and needs, mobile broadband usage is set to grow,'' Gupta said.

Mobile video usage was evolving, with mobile broadband users spending 61 per cent more time on video apps compared to non-users.

For one-third of consumers, smartphones were the only screen they used to view online mobile videos and the most popular way of consuming mobile videos was through chat apps – one-third watched videos shared by friends.