Mobile accounts for 77% of time online in the UK

"Mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) now account for 77% of time online, up from 73% a year ago.
Females spend the greatest share of time on mobile devices at 84% compared to only 71% for males.
The ‘mobile only’ audience has grown by 7% points over the last year, up from 25% to 32% of the UK online adult population.
Platform share differs greatly by category. For example, smartphones account for over 85% share of time for instant messenger, coupons, maps, fitness trackers, books, social media, dating and online gaming categories. PCs and laptops account for over 50% of time spent on Education, Family and Automotive sites."
Source:  UKOM, January 2019

Nearly 2/3 of UK kids under the age of 2 are allowed to use tablets

"Almost two thirds of children under the age of two are allowed to use tablets, and a third can open apps and turn the device on themselves, according to new data by market research specialists Parents Insights.
The findings, from Parents Insights Q2 report on a study of 2,500 parents, also shows that one in five tech-savvy babies can unlock a smart device unaided.
But the study found that parents are alive to potential problems occurring from too much tablet use, with more than half (63per cent) limiting their kids’ time on the device to less than half an hour a day.
Parents Insights’ lead analyst Nick Richardson said: “Our latest data reveals a fascinating picture about how toddlers and babies as young as six months are interacting with technology – and how much their parents are seemingly willing to allow.
"It seems that tablets are the first device that parents are happy for their little ones to use but their attitudes to social media are much less liberal. We found that just 17 per cent said they would let one of their children use social media before the legal age of 13. It’s key information for brands to be aware of as they adapt to the way that both kids and parents consume information.”
When children are allowed on a tablet, the main activities they choose are games (24 per cent), YouTube (18 per cent) and Apps (12 per cent), and the same activities are popular for smartphones."
Source:  ToysNPlaythings, 22nd June 2018

US broadband households have on average more 7 devices to watch video on

"Parks Associates announced new research today showing U.S. broadband households have on average more than seven video access devices, including TVs, computers, tablets, and smartphones. At the inaugural Integrated Life Day, produced by Parks Associates and in partnership with AVIXA™, Parks Associates will share insights on the convergence of audio/visual and connected technologies as well as new business opportunities."

Source:  Parks Associates, 21st March 2018

'Phablets' now account for more than half mobile devices in use

Source:  Flurry's State of Mobile 2017, 10th January 2018

Apple shipped an estimated 322m devices in 2017

"It's easy to think of Apple as just an iPhone maker. More than 210M iPhones are sold per year, and no other Apple product comes close to surpassing iPhone in terms of unit sales. However, iPhone is only one piece of Apple's hardware story.
According to my estimates, Apple sold 322M gadgets in FY2017. This total includes unit sales from every major product category and accessory powered by Apple software (iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, AirPods, iPods, Apple Pencils, Beats headphones, and Apple TVs). After a down year in 2016, when Apple shipped 8% fewer devices than in 2015, the company returned to unit sales growth in 2017. In fact, Apple shipped 7% more devices in 2017 than in 2016."
Source:  Above Avalon, 20th December 2017

Mobile had its first $2bn day in the US on Cyber Monday 2017

"Mobile had its first-ever $2bn shopping day in the US on Cyber Monday, helping drive online sales to its largest total in history of $6.59bn for the day.
According to Adobe estimates, smartphones alone accounted for $1.59bn of revenue on the day, representing an all-time high year-on-year (YoY) growth of 39.2 per cent. Smartphone traffic also saw growth of 22.2 per cent, helping overall web traffic to retail sites to increase by 11.9 per cent.
Overall mobile devices represented 47.4 per cent of retail site visits – 39.9 per cent smartphones, 7.6 per cent tablets – and 33.1 per cent of revenue – 24.1 per cent smartphone, nine per cent tablets. Mobile transactions were 12 per cent higher in value on average than Cyber Monday 2016."

Source:  Mobile Marketing, 29th November 2017

Note - so $1.6bn for mobile, and $0.6bn for tablets
Plus - Black Friday stats here
Plus - Data on in-store footfall here

Most time spent watching video is for content over 20 mins

Source:  Ooyala's Video Index Q1 2017, June 2017
Note 1- This is time spent, not number of videos
Note 2 - Ooyala can only measure what is in its network, so as far as I know this does not include YouTube or Facebook.  If it did 'short' videos would surely be much higher

3/4 of the UK population sometimes use a connected device when watching TV

"Three-quarters of the British population use a connected device while watching TV, a trend that rises to 93% in the under 25 age range, according to a new report from Google that highlights the rise of smartphone adoption.
The Google Consumer Barometer Report, a five-year study that includes 625 thousand interviews with consumers around the world, finds that in the UK three in four people now use a smartphone, a number that has nearly doubled in five years. The average Briton uses 3.3 internet-connected devices.
The proportion of daily internet users has increased from 56% in 2012 to 68% today. What's more, the public increasingly looks to the internet when they need information, with 84% of consumers choosing the internet over other mediums.
But the rise of smartphone usage has not eclipsed the use of desktop; 65% of respondents said they access the internet the same amount on smartphone as computer. That’s almost twice as many as in 2012, when the number was 35%.
Two in five Britons use a computer, a tablet and a smartphone, compared to one in ten people five years ago. On average, the British use 3.4 internet-connected devices, an increase from 2.3 devices in 2012.
More than half of the British public prefer to do a task digitally is they have a choice; with half of smartphone users choosing their phone as an alarm clock. For one third of the public the smartphone is their primary source of news and music."

Source:  Google Consumer Barometer, reported by The Drum, 27th February 2017

Mobile device activations over Christmas 2016

Source:  Blog post from Flurry, 27th December 2016
Note - Flurry says that this is global, but I'd suspect that apps that use Flurry tracking are more likely to be western ones

Mobile ad spend has overtaken desktop ad spend in the UK

"Driven by mobile, digital advertising continues to prove its worth to advertisers who increased spend 16.4%¹ in the first half of 2016 to £4.78 billion – the highest first half growth rate for two years.
·       Overall 16.4% rise in digital spend is highest first half growth rate for two years
·       Mobile spend up 56.1%
·       Video the fastest growing ad format, up 67%
The PwC / Internet Advertising Bureau UK Digital Adspend report also shows the amount spent on mobile display ads (£802 million) overtook that of PC and tablet display (£762 million) for the first time. This significant development reflects the rapid growth of time spent on smartphones.
Total mobile ad spend, including search and classifieds, increased by 56.1% in the first half of 2016. Consequently, 36p in every £1 spent on digital advertising now goes to mobile, up from 4p just five years ago.
“Mobile use today is more akin to a computer than merely a phone, as people increasingly rely on them as their information, entertainment and communications hub,” said the IAB UK’s Chief Strategy Officer, Tim Elkington. “People now spend more time online on their mobile than they do on a computer. Consequently, marketers devote more ad spend to mobile as they increasingly cotton on to the fact that people essentially carry an ad platform with them wherever they are.”
Accompanying online YouGov consumer data shows that 82% of smartphone owners check their phone within an hour of waking up, while 86% of 18-34s do so within half an hour. For 1 in 5 of those looking at their phone soon after waking up, checking social media is the first thing they do, rising to 29% of 18-34s. The smartphone is now the primary source of news for 30% of owners, rising to 42% among 25-34s².
Video, social and native are fastest-growing formats
Spend on video ads overall grew 67% to hit £474 million during the front half of 2016. Driven by rising video, TV and film viewing on smartphones, mobile video spend alone grew 129%. Consequently, video accounts for 30% of all display advertising but 37% of mobile display.
Outstream and in-read video ads (those appearing anywhere on the page, not before video content) saw a massive 440% rise and now account for 40% of video spend, whilst ‘traditional’ video ads (which play before, during or after an online video) grew 17%.
Ad spend on social media sites grew 43% to £745 million, meaning nearly half (48%) of display spend now goes on social. Social media spend on mobile alone grew 64%, so mobile now accounts for 80% of spend allocated to social.
Content and native advertising spend – which includes ‘advertorials’ and ads in social media news feeds – increased 29% to £451 million.
Consumer goods are biggest display advertisers
Consumer goods brands – such as food, toiletries and clothing – spent the most on display ads (e.g. banners and video), responsible for 18.3% of spend, followed by travel & transport (16.4%) and automotive (11.7%).
Driven by mobile, which grew 61%, paid-for search overall grew 18.1% to £2.49bn – a 52% share of digital ad spend. Classifieds, including recruitment, property and automotive listings, grew 3.6% to £699 million (15% share).
“The phenomenal rise of mobile search reinforces the idea of mobile as the ever-present ad medium,” says Dan Bunyan, Senior Manager at PwC. “It means advertisers no longer have to wait to target people at specific ‘touchpoints’ during the day. Instead they can deliver highly relevant, localised ads with unprecedented immediacy, such as reacting to people reaching a specific place, looking for a particular product or even the weather changing.”"

Source:  Press release from the IAB UK, 12th October 2016

The preferred device for a range of tasks

Data for the UK
Source:  Deloitte's Mobile Consumer Report, Sept 2016

Time spent with media by adults in the US

Source:  Data from Nielsen, reported in blog post, 18th July 2016

Nearly half of the 'mobile' screens in use in China are Phablets or larger

Source:  Flurry's Insights blog, 29th March 2016

Over half of UK online sales come through tablets or mobiles

"A major digital tipping point has been reached – with the percentage of UK online retail sales made through mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) exceeding 50% for the first time in Q4 2015/16*.
Smartphones and tablets accounted for 51% of UK online retail sales in Q4, which was a substantial increase on the 45% recorded in Q3 – and up from 40% in Q4 last year.
The percentage split of total UK online sales between the types of channel for Q4 2015/16 was as follows:
Desktop / laptop – 49%
Tablets - 33%
Smartphones - 18%
Visits to retail websites via mobile devices accounted for two-thirds (66%) of traffic in Q4, up from 63% in the previous quarter. This compares with 53% in Q4 last year.
This leap in mobile penetration appears to be being driven by increased confidence in using smartphones for online shopping. Sales growth through these devices rose sharply in 2015, while growth through tablets reached a record low in December 2015."
Source;  IMRG, 24th February 2016

TV is no longer the dominant screen in British living rooms

"Myth 1: TV is the dominant living room screen and entertainment the dominant activity
Only 50% of UK online adults now say the TV set is the focal point of their living room, whilst 70% report they ordinarily use a connected device whilst watching TV – this rises to 87% of 16-34s. Multi device activity peaks between 6-9pm.
During TV programmes, over one third (34%) check emails, 31% Instant Message or text and 25% shop online.
The biometric data revealed that about 60% of the time a person is most highly engaged during an evening TV session is in non-TV related activity, such as using a digital device or talking to someone.
“Second screening is ingrained to such a degree that all screens are now equal, there’s no hierarchy, only fragmentation of attention – actually switch-screening is a much more accurate term,” says Tim Elkington, the IAB’s Chief Strategy Officer. “Furthermore, entertainment is only a small part of the living room media activity. It’s now a multifunctional space where people jump between individual and group activities, be it shopping, social media, emails, work or messaging.”
Myth 2: TV programmes and ad breaks determine behaviour
The study revealed the traditional assumption that people cram non-TV related behaviour into the ad breaks is no longer valid.  
For example, the incidence of checking emails is consistent during TV programmes and ad breaks (both 34%) whilst texting or Instant Messaging is only 1% higher during the ad break than the programme. The device tracking showed, overall, there was actually more online activity per minute during a programme than an ad break.
Furthermore, the declining “kettle power surge” during ad breaks in peak TV occasions over the last 25 years provides more evidence of the change in the traditional rhythm of the living room. During the biggest TV event in 1990 – England’s World Cup semi-final against West Germany – National Grid data compiled by British Gas shows a power surge equivalent to 1.12 million kettles boiling at the same time immediately after the match. In 2014’s biggest TV event – England’s World Cup match against Uruguay – the power surge was the equivalent of only 410,000 boiling kettles."

Source:  IAB UK, 11th February 2016

Smart devices - phones and tablets - per head in Europe

"Flurry from Yahoo currently tracks over 725,000 apps across 564 million devices in Europe. All Europeans love their smart devices, but there are marked differences in usage and preferences across the continent. Let’s take a look.
For this analysis, we focused on the top 10 European countries by total population: Russia, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Ukraine, Poland, and Sweden. We next compared the total population and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of these countries, to the number of iOS and Android devices Flurry Analytics tracked in each of these countries throughout October 2015. GNI is a measure of a country’s wealth, as calculated by the World Bank in constant US dollars."

Apple shipped 48m iPhones and 10m iPads in its Q4 2015

Source:  Apple financial docs, published 27th October 2015
Units are in thousands, revenues in millions
Note that Apple's Q4 2015 ended 26th Sept 2015

UK Internet users spend nearly 3 hours a day online; mobile & tablets account for 56%

"IAB & UKOM publish “definitive” time people spend online - 2hrs 51 mins a day. Aims to clear up confusion around online media consumption figures. Mobiles and tablets account for over half (56%) of internet time.
The Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB) and UK Online Measurement Company (UKOM) today published a definitive figure on how long people actively spend online each day, to bring clarity to the market by removing any confusion around the conflicting sources claiming to measure time online.
UKOM, the official cross-industry standards body that measures online audiences using approved comScore data, revealed that the average Briton online spent 2 hours 51 minutes per day actively using the internet at home and work (during the first six months of 2015).
Internet time is split 1 hour 16 minutes (45%) on PCs/laptops, 1 hour 9 minutes on smartphones (40%) and 26 minutes on tablets (15%).
“There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to the various sources claiming to measure how long people spend on different media,” said the IAB’s Chief Strategy Officer, Tim Elkington. “So, we wanted to put a stake in the ground for internet time to remove this misconception and help advertisers understand how much time they realistically have to play with to reach people online. It equates to about 1 in every 6 waking minutes¹.”
The data comes from a combination of meters measuring the behaviour of 73,000 people (a panel) plus thousands of sites and apps being tagged (site analytics).
The resulting figures purely measure “active attention”, that is, only the time people are actively using the internet to do something. Elkington explains: “If I’m surfing the internet on my PC but then start using a word document, the internet time is stopped even though the web page is still open. A similar approach is applied on mobile when internet activity is interrupted due to calls or texting.”
Social media overtakes entertainment in share of online time
The UKOM/comScore data reveals that 16.7% of all UK internet time (1 in every 6 minutes) across computers, tablets and smartphones is spent on social media – up from 12% two years ago. Social media has overtaken entertainment, whose share nearly halved from 22.1% to 12.4%.
Games follows next at 6% share – double that of two years ago (3%). Together, these activities account for over one third of Britons’ time online.
Share of time differs dramatically by device
Social media accounts for over double the share of mobile/tablet internet time (21.4%) than it does of desktop internet time (9.8%). Games (8.6% vs 2.3%), Instant Messaging (6.7% vs 0.8%) and News (4.8% vs 2.2%) also take up a much larger proportion of mobile internet time than desktop time. In contrast, entertainment accounts for over double the share of desktop internet time (18.5%) than it does on mobile/tablet (8.3%); for email, it’s over six times the share (5.0% vs 0.8%).
“When trying to reach consumers, advertisers can’t afford to think of time online as a homogenous entity,” said UKOM’s General Manager Scott Fleming. “Mobile internet time is more heavily skewed towards social networking and games whilst desktop is more loaded towards email and entertainment such as film and multimedia. “The most effective digital ad strategies recognise and take into account how behaviour and mind-set differ dramatically by device.”"

Source:  Press release from IAB UK, published 2nd September 2015

There are over 24,000 different Android devices in use

24,093 Distinct Android devices seen this year
18,796 Distinct Android devices seen last year
682,000 Devices surveyed for this report
37.8% Samsung's share of those devices
1,294 Device brands seen this year
Source:  Android Fragmentation Report from OpenSignal, August 2015

Household ownership of connected devices in the UK in 2015

Source:  Ofcom's Communications Market Report, August 2015
Full report here
All charts here