The smartphone’s position as the most important device in the home has been reaffirmed by new Ofcom research, which shows Brits are increasingly using mobile devices to watch television and surf the Internet instead of televisions and desktop PCs.
The report, which examined attitudes to digital and traditional media, claims that the smartphone would be the device adults would miss the most if it was lost or stolen.
Nine in ten adults (90 percent) said that they use a mobile phone, with 70 percent owning a smartphone.
Smartphones are also replacing televisions are a medium to watching programs, as catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer allow consumers to watch content on the go.
Using social media, listening to music, watching short video clips, looking at news websites or apps, and browsing were found to be the most popular activities, with online shopping, watching catch-up television and completing online documents the only tasks that were preferable on a laptop or PC.
Ofcom says that these patterns is being seen across all age and socio-economic groups, as well as between men and women, but is particularly marked among young people.
The group says that the move away from PCs and laptops and towards smartphones and tablets has the potential to make an impact in a number of areas, including how companies target users with their content, and certain devices becoming more popular as they offer better usability.
However, this could lead consumers to miss out on valuable content, Ofcom says, and adds importance to “digital intermediaries” such as Facebook, Google, YouTube and Amazon, who now play a larger role in providing users with new information.
Overall, the report found that UK adults spend an average of 21.6 hours online each week, almost identical to the previous year.
Ofcom also discovered that take-up and use of the Internet saw wide differences depending on age, as almost two-thirds of over-75s, and a third of 65-74s say they do not use the internet at all, compared to 17 percent of 55-64s and less than five percent for under-55s.
What do you remember about the smartphones of 2015? Take our quiz!
Tesla lays off software, service, engineering staff after disbanding Supercharger team, as major cull continues
Dominant Bitcoin ETF Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shows first net inflow since January as investors flock…
US campaign funding groups backed by cryptocurrency sector raise more than $102m as firms seek…
Explore the cutting-edge realm of cybersecurity with 'A New Age of Cybersecurity' podcast. Learn how…
Robinhood Markets says it received SEC enforcement notice over cryptocurrency trading platform amidst ongoing crackdown
Chip designer Synopsys to sell software integrity unit to private investors to create new independent…
View Comments
Not sure I would believe anything OFCOM says - they still believe the UK has a good mobile phone service (its a joke) and as for Internet services - unless you are in a major city (and even then you might not get a service) its useless.
Presuming it is true then why isn't OFCOM doing something about the poor mobile services in the UK, they missed the best opportunity we had of having good mobile services by backing off the roaming requirement - so now patchy services for longer and more towers etc. Sheer an utter incompetence again from OFCOM.