Indians spend over five hours a day watching mobile content

Mobile phones have taken all other mediums, including television, in terms of consumption. Daily consumption of mobile phones in India has gone up over five hours per day.

While the average daily hours spent by a user in India on television, radio, personal computer and magazines have been declining since 2010, mobile phones have been grabbing this time, as per a study by RedSeer Consulting.

In 2010, when smartphones were launched, Indians spent about 5.5 hours a day watching TV and less than an hour on mobile. After a decade in 2020, time spent per mobile device has increased five-fold.

“A few years back, it was still a question if mobile phones would take over TV and other mediums. India has inevitably crossed that point where mobile has successfully taken over all the other mediums and is the device which witnesses maximum consumption. This means that apps become the most popular destination for consumers to engage and spend most of their time,” said the report.

This increased consumption of time has led to an equally strong growth in Monthly Active Users of the popular apps like chat messengers, OTT, e-commerce and social media. Whatsapp is the top app in terms of consumption, followed by Facebook and YouTube.

As a result, the digital spends of advertisers have been rising each year. From 16 per cent in 2016, it has gone up to 33 per cent in 2020. In China, digital ad spend is 76 per cent and it is 54 per cent in the United States.

“There has been a steady growth in India’s digital ad spends. However, it is comparatively much lower than countries like China and the United States wherein digital adoption is still higher than India. But, the growth of digital ads is likely to continue and grow stronger as with Covid-19, adoption of digital services has grown multi-fold,” said RedSeer.

This is bound to have a positive impact on advertisement spent by companies and brands as users start spending additional time on these platforms,” it said.

India’s digital ad market is expected to grow 10x in the next 10 years and will likely contribute 70-85 per cent of the total ad market of $40-$50 billion by 2030.

IN 2010, WHEN smartphones were launched, Indians spent about 5.5 hours a day watching television and less than an hour on mobile. After a decade in 2020, time spent per mobile device has increased five-fold.