Consumers Will Spend 800 Hours On Mobile Internet This Year: Zenith

According to a new report by Zenith, people around the world will spend an average of 800 hours using the mobile internet this year - that's equivalent to 33 days without sleep or pause and by 2021 the total will rise to 930 hours or 39 full days.

It said the average amount of time people around the world spend accessing the mobile internet has risen from 80 to 130 minutes a day, at an average rate of 13 percent a year, spurred on by the availability of affordable smartphones, faster connections, better screens and app innovation.

Growth is slowing, though, now that most people in the developed world who want a mobile device have one, and ownership is becoming common in developing markets.

"We forecast an average of 8 percent annual growth in time spent on mobile internet devices between 2018 and 2021. We expect mobile internet use to account for 31 percent of global media consumption in 2021, up from 27 percent this year," the report added.

The report also said mobile internet has eaten into the amount of time people spend with some - but not all - rival media.

However, consumers' appetite for radio and cinema has remained robust, with radio listening rising from 53 minutes to 55, and time spent at the cinema rising from 1.8 minutes to 3.0 minutes a day on average, driven by a boom in cinema attendance in China.

Total Media Consumption Rises To Eight Hours A Day

The mobile internet has expanded the amount of time people spend consuming media: consumers will spend an average of 479 minutes a day with media this year, up from 420 minutes in 2013. By 2021 we expect the average consumer to spend 495 minutes a day consuming media.

"Mobile internet technology has expanded both the amount of time people spend with media and what counts as media," said Jonathan Barnard, Head of Forecasting at Zenith. "Media now means comparing prices on the high street, sharing jokes with friends and booking your next holiday, opening up new opportunities for brands to connect with consumers."