26% of the French would prefer to abandon their TV as their smartphone

Google will soon publish a study commissioned from IPSOS about uses of smartphones on the French market. Here are the various parts of this report, which highlights a general upward trend. We can however note some inertia such as the stagnation of m-commerce.

A growing democratization

Firstly, the report highlights a well-known trend: smartphones are more and more part of our daily lives. The rate of penetration of the French market is still growing by 27% in the first quarter of 2011, it is passed to 38% in the first quarter of 2012 and and 42% in the first quarter of 2013.

And these users are not only a one-time use. 61% use it daily, 74% of those surveyed say never to leave their homes without the device in their bag. So much so that 26% would prefer to abandon their televisions as their smartphone.

But it is also the development of the use of the internet on mobile which has become a real strategic issue. 25% of users say having spent more time on the Web via their device connected to the course of the last six months, 51% perform searches top every day.

Mostly they roam on web portals for entertainment purposes (82% of the users) but also benefit to conduct more targeted activities: check their email (81%) or follow the news (74%). 64% are looking for product information, a rate that should interest advertisers and 70% watch videos. Hence the interest of very mobile broadband with 4G including...

This use of the internet often goes through applications. On average we can observe 32 installed applications on average on a French smartphone, which consulted 12 regularly. On the other hand, only 4 commercial applications are installed on average...

The most popular are those of social networks: 69% of owners of smartphones consult social networks.

A catalyst for e-commerce?

E-commerce sites adapt gradually to mobile platforms to better target consumers who always keep the device in the vicinity. However, the rate is still low: only 26% of smartphone users have already purchased a product or service on their smartphone, even if breast of these mobile consumers 45% made purchases at least once a month.

This low rate is due to more inertia. 47% of those who do not buy on mobile deem that the screen is too small and 36% still do not trust payment on smartphone systems.

However smartphones can also catalyze the consumption indirectly: 37% of users who have accessed a product on smartphone say have subsequently bought on computer and 27% in physical store.

Hence the importance of the mobile advertising. 45% of smartphone users conduct related research after seeing an advertisement on mobile. It is essentially through applications that these commercials broadcast since 45% of users claim to be arrested on an ad after seeing on an application.

Finally, the study demonstrates once again that the smartphone acts as a second screen. So, 78% of users do something else using their smartphone, including watching TV (at 52%). Hence the importance of strategies devoted (as the Social TV) put in place by the television channels.