More smartphone users in India access internet than in America

NEW DELHI: When it comes to accessing Internet through smartphones, the number of Indians outweigh the number of Americans in the activity, says a survey conducted by Google in partnership with research firm Ipsos.

The survey indicated that 56 per cent of the smartphone holders in India access internet on their phones multiple times in a day in comparison to 53 per cent in US.

It also said the number of smartphone users in India are less than 50 per cent of the 245 million smartphone user population in the US.

Over 75 per cent of the Indians visit social networking sites on their smartphones as compared to 54 per cent in US, while, up to 81 per cent of Indians access e-mail on the phones as against 73 per cent doing the same in US, the survey said.

"Culturally, even beyond the well-educated, mainstream Indians are technology curious and device savvy. We believe that the internet like telephony did, is making the leap from wired internet to mobile, and hundreds of millions of Indians will go online on their mobile devices," Google Country Head (Products)Lalitesh Katragadda said.

Of the 56 per cent usage of internet through smartphones in India, 59 per cent are males and 48 per cent females, the survey said.

The survey emphasised that mobile phones are no longer just means to make calls and send messages but are also used to follow news, watch TV, listen to music, check e-mail and access internet.

A majority, 77 per cent, of the smartphone users in India use the device to listen to music, 35 per cent of them read newspapers, book and magazines or watch TV while 33 per cent use it to play video games, the survey showed.

"Smartphones, being powerful devices can act as a pocket supercomputer as well and can do a lot more than to just navigate through social networking pages," it added.