Over the coming months we'll be releasing additional survey analysis on usage patterns.
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Virtual Reality: Adoption remains niche
VR may need to go through various iterations before it is able to attain mass market usage.
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Gold finger: Fingerprints lead biometric authentication
The convenience of fingerprint authentication versus entering a six digit or longer password is likely to become increasingly beneficial.
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Hi ho silver swiper
Smartphone adoption among 55-75 year olds has peaked and this age group is likely to grow in commercial importance over the coming years.
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The smartphone: A blessing or curse?
With every year the smartphone is becoming ever easier and more enticing to use.
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Enterprise and the smartphone: On the cusp of a lucrative relationship
The UK workforce could benefit significantly by making relevant business processes available via a smartphone.
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Machine learning: Making smartphones smarter
Machine learning is likely to play an increasingly important role in the evolution of smartphone application and handset design.
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Smartphones: The short form video star
The proportion of UK adults watching video on their smartphones has risen five fold over the last five years.
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The mobile operator store: More for more
Given the UK public’s tendency towards buying online, is there still a need for nearly 2,000 mobile operator stores?
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Smartphone adoption: Stable and strengthening
Smartphone adoption among UK adults continues to rise and is the most popular consumer electronics device.
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Explore the data in more detail
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The interval between checking a phone for the last time before going to sleep (all age groups vs 16-24 year olds)
44% 44% of 16-24 years olds check their phone within 5 minutes of preparing to sleep.
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The steps taken to limit smartphone usage
The most popular approaches to reducing phone usage are by making the phone, or its functions (connectivity, apps) disappear
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Frequency of usage, by device
91% of surveyed 16-75 year olds used their smartphone in the last day, but some devices such as VR headsets have never even been used.
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Device penetration among UK adults between 2012-17
Smartphone penetration has increased by 33 percentage points over the last 5 years, while laptop penetration has remained flat.
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Usage frequency of financial and shopping-related services/apps
Among all shopping related activities, browsing a shopping website/app is the most popular on a smartphone.
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Smartphone penetration by age group (2012 vs 2017)
Smartphone ownership increased from 52% in 2012 to 85% in 2017.
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Proportion of respondents who think they use their smartphone too much and when
56% of 16-24 year olds believe they use their smartphone too much, compared to only 12% of 65-75 age group.
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Perception of extent of others’ smartphone usage
41% of respondents in a relationship think their partner uses their phone too much
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Usage frequency of content-related activities (Top 6)
17% of people watch short-form videos on social networks or YouTube at least once a week
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Usage of voice assistants
54% of 16-75 year olds who use a virtual assistant do so to search for general information
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Awareness and usage of voice- and location-based machine learning functions
29% of respondents are aware of route based suggestions and 16% use these services.
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The interval between checking phones for the first time after waking and for the last time before going to sleep
55% look at their phone within 15 minutes of waking. For most smartphone owners, checking their phones is among the first and last things they do in a day.
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Usage of smartphones for work related activities (2016-17)
Just over half of all respondents used their smartphones for at least one work related business activity.
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Internet of Things (IoT) devices penetration (Top 10)
Respondents owning a type of connected device has jumped from 52% in 2016 to 73% in 2017.
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Awareness and usage of applications featuring machine learning among respondents aged 16-75 (Top 5)
81% of smartphone owners were aware of at least one application that incorporates machine learning; 65% use at least one
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Outcome for previous smartphone subsequent to buying or receiving the current one
22% of smartphones with an ‘after life’ are either sold or traded, but 37% chose to keep old phones as spares
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Type of video viewed on mobile at least once a week
Video viewing on smartphones has increased in 2017 across all video formats.
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Short-form vs Long-form weekly video viewing, by age group
Among all age groups short-form video is the most commonly watched.
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Weekly video consumption, by format, by age group
47% of 16-17 year olds surveyed stream films and/or a TV series compared to 2% of 65-75 year olds
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Last visit to an operator store by type of reason
41% of all smartphone owners surveyed have never gone into a physical store to get information about their contract or to query their bill
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Last visit to an operator store
More than 50% of smartphone users visited a physical mobile operator store in the last year
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Personal phone usage during working hours and business usage during non-working hours
19% of respondents use their phone often for business purposes outside of working hours.
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Smartphone purchasing channels 2017
40% of smartphones were purchased online, compared to 34% in store
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Data communication methods used weekly, by different age groups
Whilst 87% of 16-24 year olds use social networks on a weekly basis, while only 39% of 65-75 year olds do so.
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Weekly usage of data communication services (2012-17)
Communication over instant messaging has increased by 40 percentage points over the last five years.
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Activities done when people check their phone in the middle of the night (all age groups vs 16-24 year olds)
21% 16-24 year old smartphone owners check for messages in the middle of the night; most of these respond to messages.
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Mobile money transfer services used
72% of survey respondents aged 16-75 have used an online banking app to transfer money.
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Methods of authentications used among 18-75 year olds in 2016-17
Fingerprint recognition as a method of authentication has increased by 7% over the last year.
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Smartphone and tablet penetration among 55-75 year olds (2012 vs 2017)
Smartphone penetration among 55-75 year olds has increased by 42 percentage points over the last five years.
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Applications/services used on a weekly basis among 55-75 year olds, 2012 vs 2017
In the last five years, use of instant messaging applications/services among 55-75 year olds has increased by 29 percentage points.
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Type of VR headset owned, by price range
29% of respondents own or have access to a high end VR headset costing over £100
Contacts
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Paul Lee
Partner, Head of Global Research, Technology, Media & Telecommunications
+44 20 7303 0197
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Cornelia Calugar-Pop
Insight Manager for Technology, Media & Telecommunications
+44 20 7007 8386
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Selina Abbiss
Marketing Lead for Technology, Media & Telecommunications
+44 20 7303 7601
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George Parrett
Press Officer, Technology, Media & Telecommunications
+44 20 7007 7285