Gen Y spends more than 3 hours on smartphone every day; What does Gen X prefer?

That smartphones have become an integral part of our life is evident from the fact that there are already 27 million-plus smartphone users in urban India. And most of us are living a dual life nowadays – a physical life and a digital one – while smartphones allow us to manage both even when we are on the go. Moreover, with the increasing number of low-cost smartphones sweeping the market, the number of users opting for these devices is also growing rapidly.

While people across all age groups are purchasing smartphones, users below the age of 25 (Gen Y) have been quicker to adopt them, compared to those aged above 25 (Gen X). This is evident from the fact that 11 per cent of all Gen Y users in urban India own smartphones but only 6 per cent of all Gen X users own them, according to a survey by Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights.

Also, not surprisingly, Gen X users are more inclined towards expensive handsets (probably because of their superior purchasing power).

Usage patterns

Gen Y users spend more than 3 hours (189 minutes) on their smartphones every day, almost an hour (45 minutes) more than the Gen X people who spend around two-and-a-half hours (144 minutes) on their devices. Both groups spend maximum time on communication (Gen Y spends 53 minutes while Gen X spends 40 minutes), followed by browsing and entertainment.

But while Gen X spends more time on calls (18 minutes, compared to 14 minutes spent by Gen Y), Gen Y users are more active on chat apps and SMSes. Gen Y Android users spend more than twice the time (19 minutes) on chat apps, compared to Gen X (8 minutes) and the most popular chat apps are WhatsApp messenger and Google Talk.

Entertainment on smartphones

When it comes to the second most favourite activity of smartphone users, Gen Y spends a total of 51 minutes on entertainment while Gen X spends 35 minutes. But surprisingly, out of the total time spent on entertainment, Gen Y spends lesser time (19 per cent) on gaming as compared to Gen X (25 per cent). Gen Y, however, prefers to spend more time accessing multimedia content.

The top three categories which have a high reach across both age groups include search, app store and social networking. But while Gen Y likes to stay connected (which is why chatting is much more popular among them), Gen X prefers more utilitarian apps like banking and finance. Other popular segments include mail, value-added services (VAS), video, news and music, among others.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)