Study finds Germans and Canadians Biggest App Users
Last Updated on January 7, 2015 I’m motivated to share some valuable findings from a study about consumers’ behaviors as they relate to the use of mobile devices and apps. The study, The Pulse of the Consumer: Global Trends in Mobile Communications was presented by Deloitte Dbriefs as part of their technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) series.
The study included the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey.
Survey Findings
Device awareness and usage
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- The average monthly spend on smartphone contracts was $60, ranging from less than $20 per month at the low end to more than $170 per month at the high end.
- When it came to choosing their current smartphone, the top seven most important features listed by respondants were: design, touchscreen, brand, operating system, reliability, camera and applications.
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Tablets have changed consumer behavior.
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At the time of the survey, May 2012:
- 18% of tablet owners hardly use their laptops any more.
- 23% use their laptops less often.
- We know from other research (Forrestor and Gartner) that it’s anticipated that in less than two years – by mid 2014 – more consumers will be accessing the web on their mobile devices than on their desktops.
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App user awareness and downloads
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When it comes to app awareness and downloads on smartphones and on tablets, Japan pips the post, with US not far behind.
As far as age demographic globally, among app users:
- 18 – 34 year olds scored the highest number of downloads in the 70- 80% range
- 34 – 44 year olds download around 60%
- 45-54 age group hovering on 50%
- 55 years and older, 30% of them download apps.
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The Canadians and Germans are greater app users, downloading more apps and spending more money
While, globally, 73% of those surveyed download 1 – 4 apps per month, and 58% spend zero dollars per month, 21% of Canadians spend more that $5 per month and 29% download more than 5 apps per month. The Germans appear to be the heaviest downloaders with 30% downloading more than 5 apps per month and 14% spending more than $5. These statistics apply to smartphones.
Germany and Canada came out on top as app users when it came to tablets. 41% of Germans tablet owners download more that 5 apps per month, and 17% more than 10 downloads. As far as spend, 31% of German tablet owners spend more than $5 per month. Among the Canadian tablet owners, 37% download more than 5 apps per month and 28% of them spend more than $5 per month.
Least appreciated smartphone capability
The most misunderstood and undervalued smartphone capability is near field communications NFC, especially for m-commerce. 49% of the respondents indicated that would not want NFC capability at all. Only 3% replied they would only want a phone with such capability. Despite having responded that way, around 50% of respondents indicated they would use the activities that NFC enables, implying NFC functionality is not yet fully understood or appreciated. See the graph below.
If you are interested to learn more, you can download the PDF of the full set of slides of Deloitte’s presentation: The Pulse of the Consumer: Global Trends in Mobile Communications