While currently 64% of New Zealanders aged between 15 and 65 currently own a smartphone, penetration rates are expected to surge to 90% in 2018, according to Frost & Sullivan.
Android (64%) leads over the Apple iOS (24%) as the preferred operating platform, but as smartphone suppliers continue to improve their functionality at cheaper price points, Apple's market share is predicted to drop further over the next few years.
Phil Harpur, senior research manager at F&S’ Australia & New Zealand ICT practice, said that among smartphone owners, 44% mainly use the device to regularly engage with mobile media. Six in ten access social networking via an app or via an internet site at least once a month while the other activities that are becoming more common include job search (36% at least once in every six months), house buying (29%) and car purchase (29%).
Smartphones are also widely used in the shopping process, with 51% of owners having used their smartphone to locate stores and 31% to compare prices. Further, 28% of New Zealand internet users purchased physical goods online during the last 12 months via a smartphone, whereas 18% have purchased via a tablet.
As smartphone functionality improves with higher resolutions and larger screens, faster internet access via 4G networks, higher data downloads and more intuitive user interfaces, mobile media capabilities will increase and smartphones will be the preferred device over laptops/PC's and tablets.
As for tablets, 26% of New Zealanders aged between 15 and 65 currently own a tablet and 42% of all households have at least one member who owns a tablet.