There is quite a bit of confusion with regards to India’s online population and numbers, depending on who you believe ranges from 30mn to 70mn.
Here is the latest report by Juxtconsult that offers some perspective:
- 51 mn ‘active’ internet users in India, 40 mn urban and 11 mn rural
- Reaches 10% Indian households and 4.4% Indians.
- 2/3rd households have ‘multiple’ users in them
- 97% are regular users and 79% use daily
- 1 in 4 access it on mobile phones, though most of them are ‘dual’ users (PC + Mobile)
Dual Users (PC + Mobile) Usage.
- ‘Dual’ users (i.e. Internet + Mobile) access internet on their mobiles habitually – 2 out of 3 access ‘daily’ and 1 in 3 uses it for more than an hour daily
- Almost all ‘dual’ users have GPRS enabled phones and most have activated GPRS service on them
- ‘WAP enabled’ data services and ‘GPRS activated’ direct browsing are the most popular mode of mobile internet usage
- ‘Poor speed’ and ‘affordability’ are the biggest perceptual barriers in higher adoption of mobile internet usage among existing net users.
Key Stats
- Popular Online activities include Emailing, Downloading Music, IM/Chatting, Job search, PC to Mobile SMS, Social Networking, Information Search engine, Videos, Wallpapers.
- ‘25-35 years’ forms the ‘single’ largest age group among internet users
- Female user-ship ‘inching’ upwards, ‘housewives’ as a user base starts emerging
- Growth relatively more in ‘South’, making it the most ‘net-savvy’ region
- ‘Home’ continues to be the largest ‘single’ place of access. ‘Home’ and ‘transit’ user base show increase
- Jobs and Matrimony are losing out to social networking.
User Behavior
- Internet ‘surfing’ is the favorite ‘indoor entertainment’ for most of them, and they perceive it as a source of ‘learning’ and ‘entertainment’
- ‘Listening to music’, ‘cinema’ and ‘gaming’ are their biggest hobbies
- ‘Money’ is the biggest motivation driving their lives
- They give highest importance to ‘functionality’, then to brand image.
