Even if smartphones are constantly gaining more users across the world, there still are places where people stick to choosing a PC over such a device. Canadians are more likely to use PCs for web browsing, accessing social media accounts or for buying something online, as a new study performed in July 2012 by telecommunications firm Rogers shows.
The August 2012 “Innovation Report 2012 Trend Watch”conducted by Vision Critical surveyed Canadians aged between 18 to 24 years, and their parents in order to find out how the two different generations use technology. The results might come as a surprise, as 88% of the respondents – young people who own tablets/smartphones and their parents – use them for text messaging, 70% for voice mail, 68% for downloading and using apps, 67% to browse the internet and 61 to access social media networks. 60% of the respondents use smart devices to play games, 57% to listen to music. Surprisingly, only 12% use them for ecommerce.
In regards to smartphone preferences, Canadians are mostly iPhone fans – 35%, while only 29% prefer Android based devices, 27% of them use BlackBerry – and these are the top three players if we consider major mobile operating systems.
All the percentages must be analyzed while keeping in mind some facts about the Canadian smartphone market. For instance, eMarketer estimates that 32% of Canada’s population will have the possibility to access the web on a smart device by the end of 2012. The same publication estimates that by the end of this year there will be 10.5 million smartphone users in this country and 16.4 million by 2016.
It is interesting that most people prefer PCs to smart devices for online browsing, but it is not so uncommon as, we have to admit, using a PC has its advantages. It is true that a smartphone is very useful if you want to go online while away from the computer, especially if one wants to post something on social media networks, but not all people do that – share where they are and what they are doing at all times. Moreover, smart devices have their limitations – smaller screens, less comfortable keys to press, slower Internet connections, etc. Also, given the number of mobile devices users and the fact that making phone calls and texting are still the main tasks mobile devices perfrom, the conclusions of the report are not really shocking.
About Violeta-Loredana Pascal
