7 out of 10 People Say "Smartphones Are Essential for Daily Life"

KISDI Publishes Report on 'Smartphone Replacement Speed of TV by Generation'

Changes in the Perception of Smartphones as Essential Media by Age Group. Graph=KISDI

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] Seven out of ten Koreans consider smartphones an essential medium in their daily lives. In contrast, only 27% of respondents regarded TV as essential, according to a recent survey.

On the 16th, the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) released a report titled "Smartphone, Speed of TV Replacement by Generation," which found that 70.3% of respondents selected smartphones as an essential medium in daily life. This represents a 14.8 percentage point increase compared to the 2016 survey result of 55.5%. Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents who chose TV as an essential medium dropped by 11.5 percentage points to 27.1% from 2016.

The report analyzed results from the Korea Communications Commission's "2021 Broadcast Media Usage Survey," which interviewed 6,834 men and women aged 13 and older from 4,236 households nationwide.

By age group, only 0.1% of teenagers selected TV as an essential medium. In their 20s and 30s, the figures were 4.5% and 9.2%, respectively, both below 10%. Conversely, 96.9% of teenagers responded that smartphones are essential media, with 92.2% and 85.1% of those in their 20s and 30s agreeing, respectively.

People in their 40s and 50s also showed a strong preference for smartphones. The percentage of respondents choosing smartphones was 84.3% and 70.4%, respectively, significantly surpassing TV preferences of 12.6% and 29.1%. Among those in their 60s, 44.1% preferred smartphones, which was lower than the 54.3% who preferred TV. However, in 2016, TV preference was 79.2%, about 4.5 times higher than the 17.6% who preferred smartphones. The gap between TV and smartphone preferences has been narrowing significantly each year.

Average daily smartphone usage time (excluding voice calls, among users) was 122.9 minutes, an increase of 23.9 minutes from 99 minutes in 2016. Average daily TV viewing time (weekdays, among users) was 175.1 minutes, up 12.5 minutes over the same period. Smartphone usage time increased across all age groups, while TV viewing time decreased among those aged 30 and under. Notably, teenagers watched TV for an average of 66.1 minutes per day, less than half of their smartphone usage time of 170.3 minutes.

In their 20s and 30s, TV viewing times last year were 109 minutes and 134.7 minutes, respectively, both lower than smartphone usage times of 192.1 minutes and 156.8 minutes. TV viewing time among those in their 40s and 50s had been declining until 2019 but saw a slight increase due to the impact of COVID-19.

The proportion of Koreans owning smartphones has steadily increased from 57.5% in 2012 to 83.3% in 2016 and 93.4% in 2021. Smartphone ownership among those aged 50 and under surpassed 98% last year. Ownership among those in their 60s reached 91.7%, while those aged 70 and older saw ownership rise to 60.1%, a 3.4-fold increase from 17.6% in 2016.

A KISDI official stated, "The influence of smartphones is spreading to older age groups," adding, "Among older generations, the speed at which smartphones are replacing TV is faster in terms of perception than actual usage time."