Our recent release of the Mobile Ad Index for Q3 2010 received a lot of interest. In particular, attention focused on Kenya which has seen 6 months of triple digit growth ; probably a direct result of the price war between Zain and Safaricom.
So we thought we’d share a bit more about the Kenyan mobile user and what they usually get up to …..
Who is the Kenyan mobile surfer?
Teenagers (15-20 years old) form a large portion (32%) of the Kenyan mobile surfers, but…
The workforce makes up the majority (67%); the single largest age group is between 20-25 years old and make up 43% of respondents.
Not surprisingly, the student population is high (39%) but among those who work 20% are self employed, running their own businesses or as freelancers. Another group of 16 % works as service personnel or perhaps as administrative / sales assistants.
Of those who work 44% have Middle Level College education and 27% have secondary education. Twenty one percent have University or Postgraduate Degrees.
The largest single group earns less than USD 40 per month, not surprising perhaps, considering that one-third of survey respondents are students. The second biggest income bracket, though, is the largest in this survey: more than USD 90 per month.
Earnings | Earnings USD | % |
3000 Shilling below | USD 38.81 | 39.09 % |
3001 - 4000 Shilling | USD 51.75 | 14.81 % |
4001 - 5500 Shilling | USD 71.15 | 8.64 % |
5501 - 7000 Shilling | USD 90.56 | 10.29 % |
Above 7000 Shilling | USD 90.57 | 27.16 % |
Of those who surf the internet on their mobiles, 29% are female and 71% are male.
Where are they?
Most surfers are in Nairobi Province (35%) while there is a fairly even spread in the Coast Province (19%), Rift Valley (16%) and the Central Province (12%). The rest of Kenya (18%) makes up the base for mobile surfing.
The majority gain access to the internet via Safaricom (94%) while the remainder surfs with Celtel (5%) and Telkom (1%).
By the end of September, the top three handsets used for surfing are Nokia (52%), Motorola (5%) and Samsung (13%). Click here to view key features of their handsets.
What do they surf for?
Kenyans are heavy users of the mobile internet!
Ninety-four percent (94%) access the mobile internet at least once a day and almost half (45%) go online more than 5 times a day. One-third spend at least one hour online each session.
More than 75% of Kenyans use the mobile internet to communicate with friends (via chat, moblogs, discussion forums, etc.).
Others (11%) surf the mobile internet for entertainment (to play games, listen to music and watch videos); six percent surf for information.
While as many as 36% do not download games often, at least 34% do so once a week and another 14% download games once a fortnight. Kenyans are persistent gamers – 46% play almost daily and another 40% play whenever they get the chance.
The typical user from Kenya enjoys outdoor sports (40%), new technology (20%) and family activities (17%).
Most users (82%) have made purchases via their phones;
- 36% make daily purchases,
- 30% make weekly purchases and
- 16% make monthly purchases.
Among their latest purchases are prepaid airtime (39%), mobile content (19%) and bill payments (10%). Most of these purchases (57%) were charged to their phone accounts while 27% of users elected to pay at the venue.
Consumer products that are high on Kenyans' wish lists (& are likely to buy in the next 12 months) are DVD players and home entertainment systems (30%), computer-related peripherals (25%) and smartphones (16%).
Kenyans also want to buy a broad range of consumer products and utilities with their mobiles. They also want to buy books, music and movies (48%), make travel bookings (21%) and buy gifts (12%).
As in many other markets, users are not on the move when they surf, users mainly surf while they are at home (76%) or at work (11%).
While users surf throughout the day, surfing activity peaks in the early (26%) and late (41%) evenings. Surfing activity is low but evenly spread out earlier in the day but starts to rise in the mid-afternoon (14%).
