Consumers in Singapore increasingly depend on internet-connected devices, with 83% reporting digital technology has made a positive impact on their lives.
According to the new State of Digital Lifestyles report from Limelight Networks, mobile phones have become such an integral part of daily life that more than half of Singaporean consumers surveyed say they could not go a single day without them.
Respondents in 10 countries were asked how they interact with digital media and the impact of technology in their lives. When asked how long they could part with their favorite digital devices, 48% of global consumers and 58% of consumers in Singapore reported they would not be able to stop using their mobile phones for even one day.
Desktop computers and laptops were the second most integral technology, with 36% of Singaporean respondents reporting they could not go a day without theirs.
Consumers have yet to widely embrace digital assistants such as Amazon Echo and Google Home. In Singapore, only 14% currently own one of the devices, 5% below the global average of 19%.
The main hurdle to adoption is that only 35% of Singaporean consumers fully trust digital assistants to provide general information such as weather, news and research. Less than one-third (28%) fully trust digital assistants for online shopping, and just 24% trust them for home automation.
Additional insights from the report include:
- Security concerns were highest among Singaporeans when using internet-connected devices. Globally, Singaporean consumers have expressed the most concerns over security and possible hacking into digital assistants (51%), security devices (51%), home automation products (42%) as well as health and fitness trackers (30%).
- Entertainment has gone digital, with streaming as the preferred method of accessing multimedia content. In Singapore, 48% prefer to stream music, while 64% of consumers prefer to stream movies and television shows online rather than downloading or using DVDs, more than any other country in Asia.
- Yet, Singaporean consumers are least likely to pay to download or stream online content globally. Globally, consumers in South Korea, the U.K and Germany are most willing to pay for content, but Singapore and Malaysia consumers are the least likely to pay. However, if they do pay for digital content, Singaporeans are more likely to pay for movies and TV shows (38%) than any other digital content.
“Consumers have become increasingly dependent on digital technology in both their personal and professional lives for information, entertainment, and for greater convenience in their daily lives. But as consumers get access to more options and become more reliant on the information they get from these devices, expectations continue to rise,” said Jaheer Abbas, regional director, SEA and ANZ, at Limelight Networks.
First published in Enterprise Innovation