Coronavirus Impact: Smartphone Consumption Surges During Covid-19 Coverage; Shopping, Food Apps Take Huge Hit

As per a study by Nielsen and BARC on Covid-19 impact, titled ‘What’s Happening In The TV & Smartphone Landscape’ the time spent by users on smartphone in week 1 of Covid-19 disruption has increased by 1.5 hours, a gain of six percent.

INDIA - 2020/03/23: In this photo illustration the Coronavirus COVID-19 logo seen displayed on a smartphone with a daily Newspaper lock down announcement on the background. (Photo Illustration by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

New Delhi: The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in India and the resulting nationwide lockdown has impacted every sector to a great degree. At a time when everybody has to remain put indoors, the importance of smartphones has come to be realised by one and all. The consumption of smartphone, with regard to the time spent by users has undergone a remarkable surge. As per a study by Nielsen and BARC on Covid-19 impact, titled ‘What’s Happening In The TV & Smartphone Landscape’ the time spent on smartphone in week 1 of Covid-19 disruption has increased by 1.5 hours, a gain of six percent.  Here are some key takeaways about smartphone consumption during coronavirus pandemic, based on the study:

• The time spent on smartphone in week 1 of Covid-19 disruption has increased by 1.5 hours: Time spent per user on smartphone in a week has increased by 6%, from 23.6 hours in pre-Covid times to 24.5 hours post Covid disruption.
• On smartphones, maximum increase in time spent is seen for 35-44 years. Mini metros & NCCS also show a good increase: In metro cities the time spent on smartphones by the users saw an increase of 6 %, in mini metros the increase was 8%, in tier-1 cities it was 2 % , in tier-2 it was 6%.  For those in 15-24 -year age group, the upshot was 7%, while for 25-34 year age group, the time of usage increased by 3%, but those in 35-44 years witnessed the maximum spurt, which is 11%.

• News user base grows in the 1st week of Covid disruption, consumers spent 25% more time chatting & on social networking, while the increase in call time is only 4%: News users grew by 8% in the first week of Covid-19 coverage, also time spent per user in a week in news section grew by 17%, and time spent on social networking sites increased by 25%.
• Covid-19 disruption hits travel tech, food tech & etail severely: Shopping apps/sites witnessed an 11% dip in time spent by users, while, travel tech witnessed a dip of 32% in time spent per user per week.  Food ordering apps witnessed a 13% cut in the percentage of users per week, while 21% fall was seen in the time spent per user per week,
• Consumption on social networking, video streaming & gaming increased during 10am to 4pm in week 1 of Covid disruption

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• Consumers accessing social media apps many more times than before: Time spent per user per week on social media was increased by 25%. (FB: +23%, Tik Tok +20%, Instagram: +25%, Whatsapp: +27%)
• Impact on news consumption on smartphones trickles down beyond metros: A 12 % increase in the time spent per user per week over news consumption in metro cities increased by 12%, by 30% in mini metro and by 14% in tier-I and tier-II cities.
• VOD time increase led more by metros & among 34 years+ age group in week 1 of Covid disruption.

Conclusion: Digital consumption of news and gaming shows huge increase in both incidence and time spent. Chatting and Social networking also show a significant increase in time spent in week 1 of Covid-19 coverage and shopping apps, travel apps and food apps take a huge hit.