Usage Behavior 6
Internet through mobile devices poised to outpace access from stationary devices? In <strong>Germany</strong>, the percentage of respondents using the Internet on the go has risen dramatically from 28 percent in the 2011 survey to the current level of 58 percent. Also, the popularity of mobile Internet has also grown dramatically in <strong>Austria</strong> and <strong>Switzerland</strong>, where 71 percent of the respondents (versus 42 percent in 2011) and 76 percent (versus 44 percent in 2011), respectively, used mobile devices to connect to the Internet. This upward trend is in line with the results of the other countries in the survey. An average of 69 percent of Internet users connected to the <strong>Web</strong> with a mobile device in the past 12 months. Among non mobile Internet users, 40 percent expressed interested in buying a <strong>Web</strong>-enabled mobile device in the future, providing greater evidence than before that the mobile Internet is close to becoming a mass market. Like in most other countries in the survey, smartphones are the most preferred mobile devices for Internet access in <strong>Germany</strong> (50 percent), <strong>Austria</strong> (62 percent) and <strong>Switzerland</strong> (67 percent). The use of tablets is also on the rise among mobile devices. In <strong>Germany</strong>, for example, 17 percent of the respondents said they access the Internet through tablets—a sharp jump from 3 percent in 2011. But more people in <strong>Switzerland</strong> are likely to be using a tablet for Internet access (26 percent) than in the other two countries. Netbooks too are popular with 28 percent of the survey participants in <strong>Germany</strong> (34 percent and 35 percent in <strong>Austria</strong> and <strong>Switzerland</strong>, respectively) having connected to the Internet through this device. <strong>Mobile</strong> devices used in the past 12 months to access the Internet Multiselect Smartphone Netbook Tablet Computer/Laptop TV Gaming console 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10 28% 34% 35% 17% 16% 26% 36% 35% 43% 25% 25% 26% 50% 62% 67% 58% of respondents (<strong>Germany</strong>) have used mobile devices to access the <strong>Web</strong> in the last 12 months 91% 94% 93% Source: <strong>Mobile</strong> <strong>Web</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Survey, 2012 Base: <strong>Germany</strong> (n=1,615); <strong>Austria</strong> (n=789); <strong>Switzerland</strong> (n=560); Excluded don't know answer <strong>Germany</strong> <strong>Austria</strong> <strong>Switzerland</strong> Figure 1a. Internet users connecting to the <strong>Web</strong> through mobile devices. © 2012 <strong>Accenture</strong>. All rights reserved. The lure of the mobile Internet is so strong that its use extends to older generations too. In <strong>Germany</strong>, for example, 27 percent of those above 50 years used the Internet on the go as compared to only 15 percent in 2011. And, as expected, the youth are the greatest users of mobile Internet with 80 percent of the participants in the age group of 14 to 39 years. In <strong>Austria</strong> and <strong>Switzerland</strong>, 83 percent and 92 percent of the respondents, respectively, aged 14 to 39 years were mobile Internet users; and at least 40 percent of those above 50 years accessed the <strong>Web</strong> through their mobile devices. Globally too, the mobile Internet attracts a good mixture of both the young and the old. Of the 61 percent of respondents who used smartphones for accessing the Internet, more than 70 percent were in the younger age group (between 14 and 39 years). Interestingly, more than half of those above the age of 50 used their smartphones for Internet-related activities. While the overall upward trend is evident across all the countries that were surveyed, the emerging markets of Brazil, South Africa and Russia showed the highest adoption of smartphones (above 70 percent on average) for Internet use. This is in line with developments in other emerging markets such as India. These countries, with a dearth of fixed lines, have been witnessing a hypergrowth mobile phone revolution for some years now, fuelled in part, by declining costs—both of devices and subscription rates—and a growing wealthy middle class. The widespread lack of personal computers, relatively more expensive than mobile phones, meant that for many people, the mobile phone would be the first entry into the Internet world. 92% of respondents in <strong>Germany</strong> (<strong>Austria</strong>: 95%, <strong>Switzerland</strong>: 94%) have used stationary devices to access the <strong>Web</strong> in the last 12 months • Smartphones are the most popular mobile access method to the Internet with 50% of respondents in <strong>Germany</strong> using smartphones versus 28% for netbooks and 17% for tablets. • Age is a differentiating factor with 82% of those aged 14-29 accessing the Internet on a mobile device versus only 27% for people above 50 (<strong>Germany</strong>). 7
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