Understanding Tech Savvy Indian Youth – Gadgets Usage, Information Access, Social Networking & More

As per the 2011 census of Indian population, 65% of Indians are aged below 35 years and 47% Indians are below 20 years of age. By 2020, India’s average age would be just 29 years!

If you are an entrepreneur, then these statistics should certainly ring a bell in your mind: Indian Youth is the future of our country. They are restless, eager to try out new things and they are pretty much active on social media. If your business is not focusing on the Indian youth, then your business is missing on lots of action.

Generation Y or the Millennial Generation are those who were born during 80s, 90s and early 2000s. They are aged between 18 and 40, and are the primary drivers of consumption and spend within any economy. Among all nations of the world, India has the fastest Gen Y population, and the trend will continue for the next 30 odd years.

Tata Consultancy Services recently conducted an interesting survey on the Generation Y of our country. Here are some of the highlights of the report:

A) Social Networking:

Whooping 75.73% of the Gen Y respondents said that they do have a Facebook account, out of which 21% of users post daily and 25% post thrice a week. Surprisingly, after Facebook, Google+ is the most preferred social networking site of Gen Y Indians as 17.6% have an account there.

Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn are fast catching up with Facebook and Google+ inside India. And the connectivity: 59% of all Facebook users in India have more than 120 friends on Facebook. 31% of Gen Y has Twitter account, and the graph is rising pretty fast as only 18% have less than 40 followers.

Another surprise: compared to mobile, desktop is the top choice of accessing social media sites for Gen Y, however, the usage of mobile is climbing fast.

B) Gadgets Usage:

86% of Gen Y has a mobile; 77% has a PC; 55% own a laptop; 48% use a MP3 player; 35% has a gaming console and the fastest growth is in tablets as 32% own atleast one. Interestingly, out of these gadgets, mobile phones are the one which are the most favorite for Gen Y, followed by Tablets! Home PC and Laptops are the least favorite gadgets for Indian Gen Y.

Among brands, Samsung is the clear winner with 60% market capture of Gen Y usage. Apple is the winner in metros while Sony is slowly reclaiming its position. Micromax is the fastest growing brand in non-metros with 22% share.

C) Information Access:

78% of Gen Y still access Internet and Social Media from home; meanwhile 10% of them use mobile to access content. With 5% share, Cyber Cafes are still a prominent place to access information. As of now, 50% of Gen Y is spending 30-60 minutes on Internet, everyday; meanwhile 30% of them spend more than 60 minutes on the web, every day.

Another interesting find here: 6 out 10 high school students have shopped atleast once online. Ecommerce companies should lap up this information!

Here is more: 4 out of 10 students buy clothing and accessories online, whereas movie tickets, books, music DVDs, games and Airline/Train tickets are the other hot products which are bought online by Gen Y in India.

D) Career Options:

With 36%, IT is the top choice for career among Gen Y whereas Engineering with 20% is at #2. Media and Entertainment career has shot up significantly in the last few years as 9.85% of Gen Y will choose this sector for their career.

Medicine has dipped down to 9%, which was at one time ranked among the top 3 career choices. Finance and Banking sectors are also becoming more favorite. Gen Y in mini-metros prefer Government jobs.

E) Communication Medium:

Email has drastically lost it’s position as the numero uno communication choice for tech savvy Gen Y population; its Instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and Viber which are ruling the roost. Good ol’ phone call and SMS are still preferable for mini-metros. Trend of posting images as a communication medium has increased.

You can find the complete report here.