The average global mobile user has 33 apps installed on her phone, uses 12 apps daily and spends 80% of time on just 3 apps. Facebook, WhatsApp and Chrome are the three most commonly used apps across the world. Further, the average mobile user spends 4 hours on the phone. These facts form part of the 2016 edition of the annual Internet Trends Report brought out by US venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).
The 213-page report highlights that messaging continues to grow rapidly across the world with WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat dominating. Further, messaging is evolving from simple, social conversations to more expressive communication as well as business-related conversations. Messaging platforms are helping millions of businesses in facilitating customer service and commerce.
The report has also brought out that India’s internet users grew by a phenomenal 40% during 2015 against an overall global growth of just 9%. With this, India has overtaken US to have the world’s second largest internet user base at 277 million users after China. Globally there are 3 billion internet users, and the growth is slowing. The report states that India is the only large market that continues to record double digit growth of its internet users even as growth tapers off in the rest of the world.
Another interesting fact contained in the report is that the average cost of a smartphone in India is $158, which is among the lowest in the world. In comparison, in Ethiopia, the average cost of a mobile device is $262, more than 47 per cent of a citizen’s average annual income.