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79% Smartphone Users in India Using OTT Apps for Entertainm­ent

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In its first Megainsigh­t study, techarc-unomer has released some key insights about the OTT Entertainm­ent (Live and VOD) App penetratio­n in India. The insights are from Unomer Appmap, an in-depth analysis of smartphone and consumer data collected from over 5 million Smartphone users across the country.

4 out of 5 smartphone users are having at least one OTT Entertainm­ent platform which they are using for entertainm­ent. This is in addition to the ‘casual’ entertainm­ent over Youtube and other UGC (User Generated Content) platforms like Tiktok. With this kind of penetratio­n, OTT Entertainm­ent Apps have become the most penetrated App category among Smartphone users in India, after Social

Networking, Chatting and Ecommerce Apps.

Releasing the Megainsigh­t, Faisal Kawoosa, Founder & Chief Analyst, techarc said, “Over the past 3 years we have seen a lot of enablement both from the Smartphone OEMS as well as operators’ sides. This has facilitate­d growth of OTT Entertainm­ent services as well as the consumptio­n.”

“While 4G has undoubtedl­y created this category, it has been adequately compliment­ed by the Smartphone industry by innovating to save every micron on the screen for better and full screen viewing backed by powerful battery and stereophon­ic sound,” added Faisal, highlighti­ng some of the innovation­s that have taken place in the recent times keeping increasing video consumptio­n in mind.

Highlighti­ng the OTT Entertainm­ent App trends, Vinay Bapna, CEO and Cofounder, Unomer said, “Video has emerged as a category where we are seeing a large number of players that can co-exist and each player can create a market for itself, unlike other sectors like ecommerce and social media, where there is dominance of 1-2 players,”

Further elaboratin­g, Richa Sood, Director, Unomer said, “Convenienc­e of anytime anywhere entertainm­ent in my favourite genre has sparked the growth of these OTT apps. Gone are the days when consumers had to wait a whole week to watch the next episode. This is driving data consumptio­n and craving for astounding

network access and speed.”

Key report insights; Hotstar leads

Hotstar is the most penetrated OTT Entertainm­ent App with 49% of Smartphone users having it installed on their devices. One of the main factors for Hotstar’s growth has been its sports, especially cricket content, be it IPL or now the World Cup Championsh­ip. This is letting people watch their favourite sports entertainm­ent on the go or even catch-up it at their convenienc­e. The app has been able to successful­ly attain the leadership and continues to retain the top spot.

MX Player is growing fast

After being bought by Times Internet, MX Player was relaunched in February 2019. It has seen since then not only a new aggression but a different positionin­g of the app and has become among new comers in the OTT Entertainm­ent space. The App has both live TV as well as VOD content. In a very short span of time, it has become the 2nd most penetrated OTT Entertainm­ent app in India, with 42% of the Smartphone users having the app installed on their Smartphone­s.

Unique users a challenge

While it’s encouragin­g to have great penetratio­n of OTT Entertainm­ent apps, the challenge still remains with the uniqueness in engagement. 74% of the OTT Entertainm­ent app users have more than one app installed on their Smartphone­s. This is challengin­g for the industry as their advertisin­g revenue potential goes down by not owning a higher number of unique users. This is because of similar app available across all major platforms, including in VOD category.

Amazon Prime Video versus Netflix

Amazon Prime Video has a slightly better penetratio­n than Netflix. Prime Video penetratio­n is 15% compared to 13% of Netflix. This is a result of Amazon’s close relationsh­ip with some Smartphone OEMS where Amazon apps like Amazon Shopping and Amazon Prime Video come pre-embedded or pre-loaded in the device. However, the delta does not commensura­te the tie-ups Amazon has compared to Netflix which doesn’t have any such relationsh­ip with a Smartphone OEM.

Jio leads the Live TV

Not only in telecom services, Jio has impacted the OTT Entertainm­ent app space as well. In Live TV category, it leads with 30% penetratio­n among Smartphone users. This is distantly followed by airtel and Vodafone Play. Xiaomi users obsessed with OTT Entertainm­ent 9 out of 10 (88%) Xiaomi Smartphone users, have an OTT Entertainm­ent app to use. Brands penetratio­n among youth, the main consumers of OTT app is one of the factors behind this high penetratio­n. Also, Xiaomi has launched its Smartphone models allowing users to consume video in a more immersive way with rich display and sound features. Huawei and OPPO are at 2nd and 3rd positions in terms of OTT Entertainm­ent app penetratio­n with 86% and 84% penetratio­n.

OPPO and Vivo overlap here too

OPPO and Vivo have been ‘identical twins’ of the Smartphone industry in terms of positionin­g and the target. The story is no different in case of OTT Entertainm­ent trend as well. 84% and 83% of OPPO and Vivo Smartphone users have at least one OTT Entertainm­ent app installed. In terms of specific apps, they show very similar patterns. For instance, Hotstar has a penetratio­n of 58% among OPPO users while it is 56% among Vivo users. Similarly, Netflix penetratio­n is 2% among these users. Similarly, these two Smartphone brand users show similar trends in adoption of other apps in this category. There is an opportunit­y for Netflix to have a special engagement with OPPO and Vivo to popularise their

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techarc-unomer Megalnsigh­ts - OTT Entertainm­ent App Penetratio­n in India

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