MAKE SURE YOU’RE MOBILE – AUSSIES NOW SPEND MORE TIME ON TABLETS THAN PC’s

Compiled from articles and data release by SMK and AIMIA (The Digital Industry Association of Australia)

Back in September a digital landmark was quietly passed. For the first time Australian consumers are now spending more time on their tablets than PCs. So if your club, pub or casino website is not optimised for viewing on tablets and phones, you’d better make that your number one communications project for 2016.

Tablet time

The September edition of the IAB Australia and Nielsen Mobile Ratings Report found that Australian adults are now glued to their tablets more than PCs, by about half an hour a month.

The average Australian user spends an average of 25.59 hours every month on their tablets, compared to 25.25 hours on PC.

Time sucker

Both are still a fair way behind mobile – which takes up 34.50 hours of our lives every month. Most users prefer viewing video content on mobiles (8.6 million compared to 4.8 million).

However, tablet users are more engaged. The average tablet user watches an average of two hours of video, compared to one hour on a smartphone.

Number Crunch:  Tablet’s v Smartphones

• 89% Australians owned a smartphone
• 60% owned a tablet
• 53% of respondents owned a smartphone, personal computer and tablet
• Of those that did not own a smartphone, 32% plan to purchase one in the next 12 months
• Of those that did not own a tablet 33% plan to purchase one in the next 12 months (11% in the next 6 months)
• 34% of respondents do not have a landline
• 48% have a landline but do not use it very much

 

Andriod vs iOS

Apple’s declining market share has been the talk of the global media for some time, but things may be changing. There is talk that Apple are making a comeback and in some countries like Australia, they never really lost much ground.  Almost half of Australian smartphone owners still have an Apple device.

• 49% have an Apple device
• 25% have a Samsung
• 7% have a Nokia
• 5% have a HTC
• All others are less than 5%

And while the iPad ostensibly put the tablet on the map, worldwide Android tablets now outsell iOS by a significant amount. At the end of 2014 Android tablets commanded 72% of market share, compared to 22.3% for iOS and 5.7% for Microsoft.

But we Aussies are loyal Apple lovers and we still love our iPads too.  iPads are most popular in North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia, while Android tablets are favoured in much of Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe.

 

Publishing powerhouse & growing app-etite  

Many publications have found a new lifeline through tablets.

Currently 14 of the top 15 highest-grossing Lifestyle iPad apps are magazine brands. Of these, the majority are Food and Drink publications.  Many clubs now also use interactive animated apps for their in-house magazines and communications – including proximity beacon active offers.

iPad users are nuts about apps. To date there have been over 1000 billion iPad apps downloaded, and at last count there were over 725,000 native iPad apps.

Games are by far the most popular category of app on Apple’s tablet, accounting for 48% of all downloads.

Close to a quarter of B2B companies now use tablets for sales-related activities.

 

Device Preferences

Aussies love our mobile devices and we consistently choose them over other screens.  Almost two thirds of us would give up our TV rather than our mobile phone. In a battle between screens, half of us would choose our mobile phone over a laptop or tablet. While larger screens are preferred for a number of online activities, as many as a third of Australians prefer their more personal smartphone to access social media. We’re also pretty keen to expand the use of our smartphone to other activities like shopping. Over 40% of Australians either already use their smartphone as a credit card or would like to.

• 61% of respondents would choose their mobile phone over their TV
• 50% would choose their mobile phone, 16% their Tablet and 34% their laptop or desktop.
• 34% of respondents would like to use their phone as a credit card
• 7% already use their phone as a credit card
• 39% would like to use their phone as a TV remote
• 14% already use their phone as a TV remote
• 36% of respondents prefer to use their smartphone than any other device for social media

 

Device Usage 

Other than talk and text, some of the most popular ways we use our smartphones are to browse the internet, send emails and access social networking sites.  We download a lot of apps but increasingly we expect them to be free, with only 45% now willing to pay for apps (down from 62% last year).  We are starting to use instant messaging a lot more, with just over a quarter of us using IM at least once a day.  Video calling is also picking up, although daily use is still low at 6%. However, more than a quarter of us do use video calling at least once a month, suggesting this medium is primed for growth.

• 58% use their smartphone to send email at least once a day
• 57% use their smartphone to access social networking sites at least once a day
• 27% use IM at least once a day
• 26% use video calling at least once a month  (6% are using it once a day or more)
• 66% use their smartphone to browse or search the internet at least once a day
• 57% were high level users of social networking on smartphone
• 45% had paid for apps (significantly down from 62% last year)

 

Marketing

The survey asked where respondents would prefer to receive offers on their smartphone.  The result findings highlighted the fact that 48% of respondents would in fact prefer NOT to receive offers.  More interesting is the fact that 51%  were happy to receive offers from brands they like and just under half of these would prefer those offers to arrive while they are near the brand’s store.   This is a significant population group who would be keen to sign up for location based offers from the right brand.  (Note the information about clubs using proximity beacons above.)

• 48% noted that they were not interested in receiving any offer on their mobile phone for a brand they liked.
• 51% were happy to receive offers from brands they like
• Of these, just under half would prefer to receive offer while they are near the brand’s store, while the rest would prefer to be at home or out & about (ie. commuting) when they receive the offer.

If you would like to know more about interactive apps for club, pub and casino usage – including proximity beacons, contact the Daily Press Group, Phone (02) 9007 7500
www.dailypress.com.au