98% of Indian Android Users Chose WhatsApp Over Other Messaging Apps; 47% of Their Time Is Spent On Communication
As of 2014, India had 140 million smartphone users, which is expected to explode to over 650 million by 2019. With such breathtaking expansion of Internet based mobility, it becomes imperative to understand what is driving it’s usage, and which apps are being currently used by the majority of users.
Ericsson ConsumerLab in their latest report titled Communication in the World of Apps have shared some sizzling numbers: Indian Android OS users are spending 47% of their time on messenger apps which provides free chat and voice; and among these, WhatsApp is the most preferred choice as 98% of the respondents used WhatsApp atleast once in a month.
Ericsson ConsumerLab surveyed 1,00,000 smartphone users across 40 countries and 15 megacities to represent the views of 1.1 billion people. In India, 7500 Android users were selected for this survey, thereby representing close to 100 million Android users. The survey covered: India, Japan, South Korea, US and UK.
As per the report, the top 5 apps which Android users in India increasingly use are:
- Hike
- Facebook Messenger
- Google+ Hangout
Thus, these are the apps which are being used atleast once in a month by Indians.
Among these, WhatsApp garnered the lion’s share of 98%; Hike had a share of 44%; Facebook Messenger 37%; Google+ Hangout 32% and WeChat 26%.
Some other interesting highlights from the report:
- Communication is the #1 usage for majority of Android and Smartphone users in general. If 47% of Indian respondents’ time is being consumed on using communication apps, then its 30% in UK and USA and 28% in South Korea.
- Japan is the country where majority of the smartphone users’ time is consumed in browsing (26% of their time)
- Email, Messengers apps and Social Networking apps are always on in their smartphones
- In India, 66% of the time is spent on Instant messaging and voice calling by Android users, whereas only 11% of the time is being spent on social networking and measly 2% is spent on emails. Comparably, in USA, 53% of the time is being spent on social networking meanwhile instant chat and voice calls consume just 14% of the time.
- Besides India, UK also prefers WhatsApp. If 98% of the respondents admitted using WhatsApp in India, then this figure is 54% in UK. In Japan, 62% of respondents use Line, whereas 92% in South Korea use KakaoTalk.
- Facebook Messenger is the top preference for USA users, as 37% of them rated it as #1 choice for communication. Interestingly, Google+ Hangouts is at #2 position in USA with 24% share. WhatsApp is not even in the top 5 rank there.
Besides providing us with data and user preferences regarding app usage, this report also informs developers and entrepreneurs about the usage pattern, and well can they tap this burgeoning smartphone user base across the world.
You can access the report: Communication in the World of Apps here.
