Smartphone users in Ireland look at their phones on average 55 times a day, a new survey has found.
While this is down from 57 last year, 13% of users say they check their phones more than 100 times a day.
97% of Irish consumers have access to some form of mobile phone, according to Deloitte’s annual Mobile Consumer Survey.
93% have access to a smartphone, and 98% of smartphone owners use their devices on a daily basis.
56% think that they are using their phones too much, while half of us believe our partners use their mobile phones too much.
One in five of us check our phones within five minutes of waking up, which is down from 27% in 2017.
35% of people surveyed said that they are increasingly distracted as a result of using their mobile phones when trying to complete a task, while 87% of consumers report being concerned about how online companies share their personal data with third parties.
The survey, carried out online by Ipsos MORI, asked 1,000 Irish people to assess their behaviour and usage of mobile devices and their views on this.
When it comes to analysing what we use our phones for, the results showed that 41% of Irish consumers pay for a music subscription, 73% have used mobile/online banking, 35% access their news subscriptions and 27% stream a film or TV series at least once a week.
The majority (68%) of 18-24-year-olds watch live videos or stories on social media on a daily basis, and 79% of Irish people use their smartphones for work-related business activities.
Commenting on the report, Richard Howard, Partner and Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Deloitte, said: “In the 2018 Deloitte Mobile Consumer Survey we have started to see a balancing in our addiction to smartphones.
Irish consumers appear to be recognising the over-reliance we have on our devices, and are beginning to make conscious efforts to reduce screen time.
"2018 is also the year where we are finding the phone starting to replace cash and cards as a primary means of payment, which highlights how the smartphone has become intertwined into our daily lives.”
Digital Desk
