PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are among the consumers most addicted to their digital devices, but also among the least likely to pay for online content, a 10-country survey has found.
According to the new State of Digital Lifestyles report from Limelight Networks, which specialises in digital content delivery, consumers in India and Malaysia are the most addicted to their digital devices, with average engagement scores of 2.67 and 2.21.
The “engagement score” measures how often they use apps, stream movies/ TV shows and music, download e-books, play videogames or get their news.
Almost two-thirds of people in Malaysia and India say they would not be able to stop using their mobile phones for a day or more.
However, only 27.7 percent of Germans would be unwilling to stop using their phones, with 11.9 percent saying they could stop using them permanently. The country with the highest number of people willing to give up their mobile phones is the United States, where 13.6 percent would be able to stop using them permanently.
Music was the most commonly accessed online content in every country except Japan, where apps are most popular, Limelight said in its report.
India has the highest level of engagement across all types of online digital content.
Consumers in South Korea, the United Kingdom and Germany are the most willing to pay for content, while those in Malaysia and Singapore are the least likely to pay.
Streaming rates are the highest in the United States at 64.7 percent. Music download rates are highest in Malaysia where 53.4 percent prefer to download music.
CDs are most popular in Japan at 18.2 percent and the lowest usage is in South Korea where only 2.3 percent purchase CDs.
Most people prefer to read e-books rather than purchase physical copies, with 54.6 percent downloading e-books to read offline. E-books are most popular in Malaysia where 74.7 percent prefer digital books.
Physical books are most popular in Japan, France, and South Korea.
The State of Digital Lifestyles report was based on responses from 5,000 consumers in France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States aged 18 and older who had downloaded software or streamed online video or music during the last month.
Survey responses were collected between May 8 and 18.
Other key findings:
> Consumers overwhelmingly feel online digital technology has had a positive impact on their lives, with 37 percent saying it has made a significant improvement. Less than 5 percent feel it has made their lives worse.
> Mobile phones are considered so essential that nearly half of people say they would not be able to stop using their mobile phones for a day or more.
> More than half of consumers download or watch movies and TV shows online each week, and 61 percent prefer to watch movies and TV shows online rather than download them to watch offline or rent or purchase DVDs.
> People stream music and videos in their living rooms more often than any other location.
> Less than half of consumers are willing to pay for online content.
> Most people (80 percent) have concerns about using Internet-connected devices. More than 40 percent have concerns about security and hacking into the device as well as privacy concerns about the data being collected.
> Most people (88 percent) are frustrated with the process of accessing online digital content, with 37 percent noting rebuffering or when playback stops as their primary frustration.
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