As the digital and mobile landscape continues to evolve and shape the way we communicate and connect, it is important to understand what is happening in the market and the effect that emerging technologies have on the rest of the industry. Things are moving quickly and the medium consumers use across different regions can differ greatly.
There are many publications that keep an eye on market trends. One of the more anticipated reports in the Industry is from the communications regulator Ofcom, who ensure fair practises across TV and radio, fixed line telecoms, mobile, post and the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. Yesterday, Ofcom released their 11th International Communications Market Report for 2014, which has observed some interesting trends across the UK and 17 comparator countries – France, Germany, Italy, the US, Japan, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Brazil, Russia, India, China and Nigeria.
An interesting outcome of the study across most markets is there is a significant decline between 2012 and 2013 of consumers browsing on desktop and laptop devices, making way for increased Smartphone usage. Time spent browsing on desktop and laptop fell by nine hours on average in the US & seven hours per user in the UK. Furthermore, people over 55 are using desktop and laptop more, with 25% over 55 in the UK, up two percent since 2013.
As the younger generation continue to adopt newer technologies, it is no surprise that social networking and reading news online are the two most popular activities performed on smartphones, everywhere except Australia. Of the UK respondents surveyed who access news online, 24% said their smartphone was their primary device for news, with 16% saying tablet was their main device for news. Understanding the consumer journey online, people in the UK and Spain are more likely to start their ‘news journey’ with a news brand, whereas users in other countries like Germany and France are twice as likely to discover stores using search.
Following this upward trend in mobile consumption, mobile advertising spend per head is continuing to sky rocket, doubling from £8 to £16 in 2013. These figures are impressive and show no signs of slowing down, as smartphones continue to become the most popular device for accessing the internet. The report also covers interest information on usage behaviours across other mediums (including an interesting stat on how parcels from online purchases are helping keep postal services afloat, even though we send more emails than letters these days!). The full report can be accessed online for free here (PDF).
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