Ahead of the pack: Sajith says the Barometer proves that Asia is leading the way in smartphone usage.
Malaysians are the top multi-taskers in the world according to Google’s latest Consumer Barometer study.
The study found that nine out of 10 or 91% of Malaysians are using smartphones while watching TV. Thailand and Vietnam came in second at 90%.
“The findings reveal a few important things. It shows that we are well connected, smartphone penetration is very high and that Malaysians are generally curious and want to find out things immediately,” said Google Malaysia country head Sajith Sivanandan.
Sajith said it could also be because Malaysians are just capable of processing more information than everyone else.
Malaysia is well ahead of developed countries such as Britain (63%), Australia (60%), the United States (57%), Germany (53%) and France (49%), according to the study.
The smartphone is mainly being used for social media, searching the Web, watching online videos, researching or looking for product info, and playing games or listening to music.
“The research shows that Asia is leading the world in smartphone usage and engagement, as well as many other activities such as online shopping,” said Sajith.
The survey also showed that 36% of Malaysians exclusively use their smartphones and no other device to access the Internet.
In terms of smartphone penetration, Malaysia (77%) is in the fifth in the world, behind Asian countries such as Singapore (88%), South Korea (83%), HK (79%), Taiwan (78%) and Australia (77%).
The annual research was conducted by TNS Infratest, a global market research firm, on behalf of Google in over 50 countries.
In Malaysia, the survey was conducted from Nov 2014 to April 2015 and engaged over 3,000 people above the age of 18.
