Dubai: The average adults in the UAE owns at least four devices — smartphone, tablet, PC or laptop — in line with the global average, according to a new study.
Among the devices, smartphone ownership is over-indexed, meaning consumers own more smartphones compared to the rest of the world, said research firm TNS’s Connected Life study.
“UAE consumers are very open to using mobile devices to support lifestyle, like monitoring of personal data like exercise, connecting the car or home to other devices or the internet, using a 3D printer, and even using wearable technology, such as a smartwatch,” Stephen Hillebrand, CEO of TNS Middle East, said.
He said UAE residents are communicating across social media channels up to five hours a day, and are fast to follow trends. In fact the UAE ranks ahead of many ‘mature’ markets, particularly when it comes to device-driven services.
However, he warned that users have a tendency to work across multiple channels and are fast to adopt more advanced devices, meaning that the targeting opportunity is also a complex task.
“Drilling down, it suggests that although males own more devices, all the users see the internet as an essential source of information and are quick to adopt new technologies. The users are heavily influenced by what they see and read on digital and social channels, with an increasing number emerging as engaging influencers themselves,” he said.
Fahad Al Hassawi, chief commercial officer at du, said at a recent press conference that the UAE has the highest social media penetration rate in the world at 80 per cent while the penetration rate for Middle East is 24 per cent.
After the UAE, Singapore comes next at 59 per cent while Australia and UK have 57 per cent penetration rates each.
He said that 96 per cent of the UAE residents have a social media account and 67 per cent are using it on a daily basis.
Hillebrand said that Facebook and YouTube are the top contenders, but it is the new-kid-on-the block — WhatsApp — that is emerging as the most favoured communication platform of the moment.
According to du, 93 per cent of UAE residents have Facebook accounts and the monthly active users (MAU) are 53 per cent, followed by Google+ at 73 per cent penetration rate and 27 per cent MAU, Twitter at 64 per cent penetration rate and 27 per cent MAU, LinkedIn at 49 per cent penetration rate and 22 per cent MAU and Instagram at 26 per cent and 10 per cent MAU.
“Internet users in the UAE are very active communicators and many are attracting followers across a variety of channels, including direct communications via Instant Messaging, email, and video/voice calls,” Hillebrand said.
