Brazilians spent 3.5 hours a day on their cell phones – 04/11/2024 – Tech

Brazilians spent 265 billion hours on their cell phones in 2023, or the equivalent of around 3.5 hours a day, according to digital market agency Rocket Lab.

In the same period, 10 billion applications were also downloaded, which places Brazil in fourth place in the world both in number of downloads and screen time.

The time data only considers Android smartphones (more than 80% of national cell phones), Google’s operating system, as Apple does not compile this information. The number of downloads includes iPhones, Android devices and other Chinese systems.

However, when it comes to spending within apps, whether on purchases or advertising, Brazil is in 11th position worldwide.

According to the company that commissioned the survey, the data indicates the potential for growth in earnings from the digital market.

“Companies here are still in the process of transitioning from offline to digital media, which should continue to move this market,” says Rocket Lab’s Sales Director, Bruno Ferreira.

In 2023, revenues from the so-called mobile market grew 26.2% compared to 2022, from US$1.4 billion (R$7.1 billion) to US$1.7 billion (R$8.6 billion).

The growing interest in the digital economy has gained traction since the Covid-19 pandemic, as smartphones have become one of the main shopping platforms.

The number of ecommerce app downloads, for example, grew from 40.5 million in 2021 to 60.5 million in 2023.

Apps in this category, although they are less popular than entertainment apps, generated US$471 billion (R$2.39 trillion) in revenue from app traffic, the majority of which comes from ads.

Rocket Lab estimates that the ecommerce market in Brazil has reached US$35.64 billion.

This occurs in a scenario of consolidation of the population’s access to cell phones. Since 2020, the number of smartphones registered in the country is greater than the number of inhabitants.

Just like China and India, other countries that are champions in smartphone use, Brazil has a large population of 203 million. Part of it has internet access limited to the telephone network only.

Among Brazilian internet users, 62% have restricted access to the internet, show data from the ICT Households survey released in 2023, carried out by Nic.br (Ponto BR Information and Coordination Center).

Brazilians’ main interest in cell phones is entertainment apps, which account for 830 million downloads of the 10.2 billion registered. This market has 144.7 million users, according to a Rocket Lab report, almost 88% of the country’s total.

Entertainment applications had revenue of US$606.8 billion (R$3.07 trillion) in 2023, compared to US$564.1 billion (R$2.96 trillion) in the previous year.

Another sector with high interest among Brazilians is fintechs, which accounted for 429.3 million downloads. These companies raised about $20 million from in-app advertising and sales, according to Rocket Lab.