Deloitte Mobile Consumer Survey 2016

Online is now the place for Indians when it comes to buying smartphones!

- Ramesh Kumar Raja

AMID THE STEADY GROWTH OF 4G ADOPTION IN INDIA, 53 PER CENT OF PEOPLE BOUGHT THEIR SMARTPHONES ONLINE WHILE 39 PER CENT OF SMARTPHONE OWNERS STILL PREFERRED RETAIL STORES TO BUY A NEW DEVICE IN 2016, SAYS DELOITTE MOBILE CONSUMER SURVEY 2016.

Online has emerged as the favourite platform for Indians for buying smartphones. This has been revealed by Deloitte Mobile Consumer Survey 2016. To be precise, a significant 53 per cent of Indians bought their smartphones online whereas 39 per cent of smartphone owners still preferred retail stores to purchase a new device in 2016. The study further elaborates that for most smartphone owners in India, the reliance on Wifi has reduced considerably due to higher penetration of mobile data. The report says 4G adoption is expected to grow strongly over the next year to become the predominant data network. About 45 per cent of the respondents said that they would subscribe to 4G or LTE in the next 12 months. 

According to Neeraj Jain, Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP: “The considerable increase in smartphone usage has been identified as a disruptor in many common daily activities. After waking up in the morning, 88 per cent consumers check their phones in the first 30 minutes itself while 94 per cent of them repeat the exercise in the last waking hour of the day. This says a lot about the way mobile phone usage has intruded in consumers’ personal space and life.”