Indians spend over 1800 hours a year on smartphone: Vivo-CMR study

On average, Indians spend over 1800 hours on smartphones in a year, Cybermedia Research (CMR) and Vivo have said in a study titled ‘Smartphone and their impact on human relationships’. According to the study, more than half of the respondents never tried to switch off from their social handles and professed to not being able to live without their phones. Interestingly, almost all respondents said that they prefer having only virtual conversations with friends and relatives.

The study evaluates and reports various dimensions of uninhibited smartphone usage while highlighting the trends, patterns, and habits that influence smartphone user actions, moods, and preferences. It is based on a survey conducted online as well as face to face across eight cities in India and cuts across age-groups and demographics: youths, working professionals, and housewives between 18 to 45 year of age. There were a total of 2000 respondents out of which 36 per cent were females and 64 per cent were males.

‘As the ‘born in the net’ generation grows up as digital natives, there is a fundamental change underway within the society, which is redefining relationships, interactions, and the very fabric of human emotions and exchanges. This transformation is also an opportunity to harness and drive positive changes, reinforce balance, and responsible proliferation of technology & its usage amongst consumers,’ Nipun Marya, Director Brand Strategy, vivo India, said in a statement. 

According to the report, 75 per cent of the respondents agreed to have owned a smartphone in their teens, and 41 per cent of them accepted that they were hooked to phones even before graduating from high school. 

‘While the explosive surge in smartphones in India has enabled Indians to not just communicate with their loved ones but also to a myriad of other uses, including consuming entertainment and expressing themselves, our survey results demonstrate that the dependency over smartphones has increased. While smartphone will continue to be the primary go-to device, smartphone users have realized that periodically switching-off would help benefit their personal health,’ Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, added.

Some of the key findings of the report are:

• Average Indian spends 1/3rd of their waking hours on their phone, which translates to 1800 hours a year.
• About 30 per cent fewer people meet family and loved ones multiple times a month (now vs 10 years ago).
• One in three people feels that they can't even have a five-minute conversation with friends and family without checking their phones.
• About 73 per cent of respondents agree that if smartphone usage continues at the current rate or grows, it is likely to impact your mental or physical health.
• Three out of five people say that it's important to have a life separate from mobile phone and that could help them lead to happier lives.