Average Indian spends over 1800 hours a year on their smartphone: study

With smartphones entering every facet of our lives, as new survey aimed to understand how mobile devices are altering lives and relationships of users found that 75 per cent of the respondents agreed to have owned a smartphone in their teens and of them, 41 per cent were hooked to phones even before graduating from high school.

From showcasing the benefits to the depth of addiction, the vivo and CMR study tried to look at the behavioural changes pertaining to smartphone usage.

The study titled ‘smartphone and their impact on Human Relationships’ looks into the influence of mobile devices on the consumers and their social interactions.

According to the study, 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). 1 in 3 people in the study felt that they can't even have a 5 minutes conversation with friends and family without checking their phones. About 73% respondents agree that if smartphone usage continues at the current rate or grows, that it is likely to impact your mental or physical health.

The report is based on a survey conducted online as well as face to face across top 8 cities in India. The report cuts across age-groups and demographics: youth, working professionals, housewives spanning the age groups of 18 to 45. The total number of respondents were 2000 out of which 36% were females and 64% were males.

According to Nipun Marya, Director Brand Strategy, vivo India, “smartphones are ubiquitous in our lives today, be it connecting with friends, family, entertainment, eating out or even travel or entertainment. As the “born in the net” generation grows up as digital natives, there is a fundamental change underway within society- redefining relationships, interactions and the very fabric of human emotions and exchanges. This transformation is also an opportunity to harness and drive positive change, reinforce balance and responsible proliferation of technology and its usage amongst consumers.”

Commenting on the survey findings, Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR said, “While the explosive surge in smartphones in India has enabled Indians with not just communicating with loved ones, but with myriad other uses cases, including in consuming entertainment and in 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 realised that periodically switching-off would help benefit their personal health.”