How much money South Africans spend on their mobile phones

 ·19 Oct 2015

A new report finds that smartphone penetration in South Africa continues to grow rapidly, and is forecast to reach more than 83% of the population by 2019, having surpassed 50% in 2015.

BMI-TechKnowledge’s survey  SA Consumer Digital Lifestyle Research Programme (DLP), questioned 1,500 people.

When asked what handset they would chose in the future, nearly a third of the respondents interviewed in metropolitan areas selected Samsung.

Choice of handsets in the future

Top smartphones

The report said that Cell C and Telkom Mobile have both taken market share from Vodacom and MTN in the metros.

BMI-T’s Digital Lifestyle Measure (DLM) classifies consumers into four groups – DLM1 (Low-Tech), DLM2 (Less-Tech), DLM2 (More-Tech) and DLM4 (High-Tech) based on the extent of their digital lifestyles.

The average monthly spend on a cellphone for voice and data is R210 per month (pm), with DLM1s spending R148 pm and DLM4s spending R449 pm.

If price were not an issue, 35% of respondents said they would consider a ‘phablet’, with the higher the DLM the more likely respondents would be to consider it.

How much do you spend on mobile voice and data a month?

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