Would you rather leave your own children accidentally alone at home than leave the house without your smartphone? Well, new Google research released this morning proves, indeed, we Aussies are addicted to our iPhones and our Galaxies.
Known as Google’s Consumer Barometer, it’s a global survey of how different nations and regions engage with their smartphones. Check the full global survey out here. Revert to the Australian stats in the top right corner.
And when it came to Australia, the following rang true:
- Australia is amongst the top 10 countries in the world for smartphone adoption at 77 per cent. Number one is the UAE, at 91 per cent penetration. Australia is ahead of both the UK (71 per cent) and the US (57 per cent).
- Aussies love watching video on their smartphones. Some 57 per cent of us report watching video on our devices at least weekly.
- Aussies love maps on smartphones. We’re number one in the world for smartphone owners who use maps.
- Five out of the top 10 smartphone adoption countries come from Asia Pacific, including Australia
- More Australians first learned of the product they purchased online via a website or app (58 per cent) than in a store, shop or showroom (36 per cent).
- Some 27 per cent of Australians watch online videos daily on their smartphones (compared with 20 per cent on a computer).
- Forty-two per cent of Australians watched online video in the living room, 30 per cent in the bedroom and a sheepish one per cent in the bathroom.
- Only two per cent of Aussies who watched online video said it was a background activity; 64 per cent said they were fully or mainly focused on the video.
- Eighty-two per cent of Australians said that when they need information, the first place they look is the internet.
- The most common weekly reasons to use a smartphone in Australia are – search engines (57 per cent), checking emails (53 per cent), visiting social media sites (51 per cent), searching online video (40 per cent) and looking up maps and directions (37 per cent).
Commenting on the findings Google Australia’s head of mobile, Lisa Bora, said: “This research shows that Australians are global leaders in mobile. We have one of the highest rates of smartphone ownership in the world, and are some of the most likely to use maps, watch online video and research products.
“Over a quarter of Australians watch online video on their smartphone every day – that’s more than do so on a desktop. That won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has ever sat on a train, queued for a coffee or waited at an airport,” she said.
