DUBAI, January 12th 2015 – Qatar Android smartphone users spend nearly 25% of their wake phase (i.e. more than 4 hours) actively on their smartphones according to a new study conducted by Nielsen. This time spent is much higher than in other countries like Malaysia, India and Indonesia where Android users spend approximately only 3 hours using their smartphones.

“With higher levels of smartphone penetration and high engagement in the GCC markets, smartphones offer a twofold advantage in reaching the consumers – high reach but yet personalised messages and engagement. Marketers realise this immense potential and are looking at various avenues to understand the mobile behaviour better,” states Amit Singh, Executive Director Telecom, Nielsen.

Gaming is a big activity across consumer profiles in Qatar. While puzzles and arcade games are most popular, the legendary Candy Crush Saga has the highest reach with 17% followed by Clash of Clans (14%) in October 2014. These games are played at least once a month. An additional insight from Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights reports shows the different peak hours of various activities. Social Networking actually starts as soon as the day begins and peaks around 10 p.m. while other online activities like gaming and videos peak at different times.

Further findings revealed that consumer mobile behavior shows different patterns by different profiles on major occasions like Ramadan. During Ramadan in Qatar, the youth in this country increased their mobile engagement by 12% while other profiles, e.g. the female population, reduced their engagement. Also mobile behavior, patterns and peaks are strikingly different here by nationality groups like Qatari Nationals, Arab and Asian Expats.

“While mobile behavior could be understood through traditional marketing research and surveys, the challenge in collecting such information through surveys is that respondents have to depend on their memory and therefore only claimed and granular data cannot be collected;” so Singh. ”Therefore, it is important to provide additional insights into evolving consumptions patterns of mobile device users to understand their needs and behavior better.”

About the Informate On-Device Meter in Qatar
The Informate On-Device Meter captures the behavior and actual usage of 500 panelists 24/7 across different nationality groups on Android Devices in Qatar. All the activity carried on the device is collected which includes both Online and Offline activities. Nielsen adheres to privacy policy as per Qatar law and doesn’t share any personal information. The collected data is shared only on an aggregated level.

About Nielsen-Informate Mobile Insights
Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights leverages innovative smartphone metering technology to provide insights into evolving consumption patterns of mobile device users. Based on accurate, real-time usage data, we help clients understand consumer behavior and develop product and marketing strategies. Nielsen-Informate Mobile Insights maintains opt-in Smartphone panels to generate syndicated reports, in addition to building custom panels and conducting custom surveys for clients. Our insights aid decision makers across various segments like operators, OEMs, publishers, advertisers, content creators and aggregators and application developers. Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights is an alliance between Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) and Informate Mobile Intelligence.

닐슨 소개
닐슨 홀딩스(NYSE: NLSN)는 마케팅 및 소비자 정보, 텔레비전 및 기타 미디어 측정, 온라인 정보 및 모바일 측정 분야에서 시장을 선도하는 글로벌 정보 및 측정 회사입니다. 닐슨은 약 100개국에 진출해 있으며 미국 뉴욕과 네덜란드 디멘에 본사를 두고 있습니다. 자세한 정보는 www.nielsen.com 에서 확인할 수 있습니다.

About Informate
Founded in 2008, Informate is a privately-held mobile measurement firm with 45 employees worldwide.  The company’s branded product suite includes Mobile Metering, Consumer Panels in seven countries and Analytics that enable consumer-facing companies to more effectively market to mobile customers who are increasingly using their smart devices to shop and purchase online. The company’s technology platform runs on Android, iOS, Symbian and BlackBerry. More information on the company can be viewed online at www.informatemi.com.