Seven in 10 Kenyans ‘addicted’ to mobile phones, study says

A mobile phone is the first thing an average Kenyan interacts with when they wake up and the last one before they go to sleep, according to a new survey.

The 2016 Mobile Consumer Survey by audit firm Deloitte found that seven in 10 Kenyans use their mobile phones within five minutes of waking up while half of them (53 per cent) right before they sleep, as the gadgets continue to play a significant role in people’s lives.

Also, a good number of Kenyans have turned matatus into the perfect place to interact with their handsets with 40 per cent of them using their phones while in public transport, says the report.

The study interviewed 53,000 respondents across 30 African countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

Mobile phones have come to play a critical role in Kenyans’ lives with most of them using these devices to browse the internet. Besides using their handsets to catch up with family and friends especially on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, Kenyans also use their phones to buy goods online.

Short videos

“As smartphones become ever more embedded in our lives, we see new opportunities and challenges for the mobile sector, retailers, and advertisers,” said Erik van der Dussen, Deloitte East Africa Technology, Media and Telecommunication (TMT) Leader during the launch of the Game of Phones report.

“The growth in the smart-phone market in Kenya has been driven by the competitive mobile landscape as well as increase in internet penetration.”

Although mobile internet penetration has increased in the country, Kenyans still find access to the internet expensive. While 44 per cent of the Ugandans said their mobile internet package allowed them to use the internet as much as they liked, 40 per cent of Kenyans said they would have used their internet frequently if it was cheaper.

Watching short videos emerged as the top mobile activity for Kenyans, with 45 per cent stating it was a general use. This was followed by reading news at 44 per cent, while watching wide news stories on news app came in third at 25 per cent.

Feature phones still dominate the Kenyan market at 61 per cent while South Africa registered the highest penetration of smartphones at 96 per cent. About 65 per cent of Kenyans buy new phones compared to 78 per cent in South Africa.