Smartphone use up 50% in small cities

Smartphone usage in cities and towns beyond tier-I increased 50 per cent during lockdown and the usage for productive work saw a growth of 100 per cent, finds a study.

During the lockdown period between March 25 and May 31, users in tier-II and beyond depended on their smartphones more for professional and personal purposes, says a study conducted by CyberMedia Research (CMR) with Tecno Mobile.

As many employees were working from home, there was 100 per cent more usage of smartphones for work-related purposes compared to preCovid times.

Further, 84 per cent of consumers who responded to the survey depended on their smartphones for accessing information on government schemes, weather patterns, and market linkage information for farm produce.

Among them, 83 per cent used their phones for content consumption, including creating and consuming short-form videos, music and videos. A similar share of respondents used phones for online banking, shopping and utility bill payments.

Beyond work, consumers spent increased time on their phone for consuming content, including video OTT, audio OTT and gaming.

Around three in every seven users started some new activities and hobbies during the lockdown period. For instance, 21 per cent of the users learnt new skills, 19 per cent listened to music, while 18 per cent took up new hobbies on their phones.

One in three parents depended on their smartphone for facilitating their kid’s online education.

“The smartphone is a key daily driver for consumers living in cities and towns beyond tier-I. We call this the ‘Aspirational Bharat’. What the survey highlights is how smartphone usage is changing, during lockdown, said Prabhu Ram, head, Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.