India Has Higher Smartphone Usage Than the US: Study

Smartphone users in the country have among the highest rates of smartphone usage daily globally, spending over three hours on an average on their devices, a study by telecom equipment maker Ericsson published on Tuesday finds.

According to the study, Indian users spend 3 hours 18 minutes on average everyday with their smartphones, of which one-third time is spent on apps. Also, there has been a 63 percent increase in app usage in the past two years, the study added.

Seventy-six percent of existing mobile broadband users (respondents) said they are willing 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 study found respondents saying they checked their phones 77 times a day on an average, with about 26 percent saying they do so more than 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.

The Ericsson Consumer Lab study was conducted among 4,000 smartphone users across 18 urban cities in India.

Video consumption on mobile devices is on the rise, with 40 percent respondents saying they watched videos late at night in bed, 25 percent while commuting, 23 percent while having dinner and 20 percent said they watched videos while shopping.

The report also found 12 percent of housewives saying they use smartphones as portable video players, while somebody else in the family watched television. Another 10 percent said they watch spiritual videos at the start of their day.

"These are interesting insights that telecom operators can use to design data packages for consumers," he said. The report also found that network performance shaped smartphone behavior and satisfied users spent more time streaming videos and browsing.

About 68 percent of all mobile minutes on the smartphone are at home, the study said adding that half of all mobile broadband issues faced by users occured while they are indoors.

"Network performance and app coverage are the critical areas of focus for mobile operators. We are focussed on bringing solutions and global experience from leading markets to operators in India to deliver optimal consumer experience in sync with the growing needs of consumers," Ericsson India VP (Engagement Practices) Nishant Batra said.

Ericsson will bring its DOT solution to India in the fourth quarter of this year (October-December) to help them deliver better indoor coverage to operators..