How Middle East Consumers Use Their Smartphones

By Chanel Smith EMEA Editor (@PYMNTS_EMEA)

Smartphones are quickly becoming an addiction in the Middle East region, and two out of five consumer phones are smartphones, reported Wamda. It is evident that people in this region are growing fond of mobile technology, but a recent infographic from Froot illustrates how consumers in Arab communities are spending their time whilst on their phones.

Top Activities

Consumers like to use their smartphones for a bevy of reasons, however some of the top activities included using mobile applications, browsing the Internet, conducting product research, logging onto social networking sites, and lastly purchasing products and services.

Interestingly, consumers in Egypt spend the most time shopping on their mobile phone as the study reports 39 percent in Egypt, compared to 37 percent in Saudi and 35 percent in the U.A.E.

Users across the Middle East are also happy to search for product and service information with their smartphones: 50 percent in Saudi, 58 percent in the U.A.E. and 44 percent in Egypt.

Frequency Of Smartphone Checks

How often do you check your smartphone throughout the course of the day? Froot’s study shows that a surprising 40 percent of smartphone users in the Middle East check their phones less than twice each day. The remaining 60 percent of users said they will check it more than twice each day.

Smartphone users in the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia check their phones more frequently in comparison to other countries across the region. Sixty-seven percent of participants in the U.A.E. and 59 percent in Saudi reported that they check their smartphone multiple times a day.

Smartphone users in Egypt look at their phones the least, with 47 percent of participants admitting they will only check once a day or not at all.

The report indicates that the average adult consumer will spend almost an hour on his or her mobile device each day, broken down accordingly: 25 percent talking, 20 percent texting, 16 percent social media, 14 website and product browsing, 9 percent e-mail, 8 percent gaming and 7 percent other.

Location Of Smartphone Usage

Wamda reported that the large majority (87 percent) of MENA users said that most of their smartphone activity is done at home. Some participants revealed that they are more apt to use their phone on the go: 59 percent in Egypt, 65 percent in Saudi Arabia and 74 percent in the U.A.E. Additionally, others reported that they mostly use their smartphone whilst shopping in a store: 46 percent in Egypt, 49 percent in Saudi and 58 percent in the U.A.E.

To read the report at Wamda click here.