China’s Internet Users Spend Twice as Much Time on Mobile Apps vs. PCs

A new iResearch report reveals China’s internet users are spending significantly more time on mobile apps than on PC web pages.

According to the report, which cited research from iUserTracker and mUserTracker, users spent more than twice as much time on mobile devices per month. As of the latest data (Dec. 2015), 27.4 percent of time was spent on PC web pages and 72.6 percent of time was on mobile devices.

Growth in the number of smartphones in use in China continues; iResearch estimates use to grow 11.6 percent year over year to 1.06 billion smartphones by the end of 2016.

As smartphone use becomes pervasive, users in China are also migrating to new media channels in droves. Data collected from January to March 2016 shows about 65 percent are using video websites/apps, 58 percent use news apps, 50 percent use internet TV. Alternatively, only 26 percent say they watch television (without internet) and just 19 percent used newspapers.

Additionally, the iResearch China survey reveals modern media users are multitaskers; 68.5 percent of new media users also watch TV at the same time. While on their smartphone, social media is the primary activity for 78 percent of users. Further, the survey found WeChat, Weibo and mobile news apps are the top channels for roughly 60 percent new media users to get news and information.

Mobile Search Gaining Traction in China

As the use of smartphones in China increases, numbers released in July 2016 by the China Internet Network Information Center showed mobile search is gaining ground on desktop search.

According to the data, there are 566 million desktop search engine users, an 82.3 percent utilization rate, and 478 million mobile search users, which represents a 77.1 percent utilization rate. The report includes data current as of Dec. 2015.

Baidu is the clear leader in mobile search; 87.5 percent of mobile search users utilize it on their phone. The closest competitors are Sogou and 360 Search with penetration rates of 22.7 percent and 20.9 percent, respectively.