150 million Indians are on their smartphones nearly 3 hours a day. Here’s what they’re up to

We’ve been hearing about the smartphone boom in India for a couple of years now. At last count, there were 961 million mobile phone users in the country, of which about 150 million were on smartphones.

The growing numbers apart, what smartphone-makers as well as startups, app developers, and marketers really want to know is what these 150 million people are doing on their smartphones. Now, mobile marketing platform Vserv has released a report based on a Nielsen study on the profiles and behaviors of different segments of Indian smartphone users.

Here are a few highlights from the report:

• The Indian smartphone user base has been growing at 26 percent CAGR from 2013.
• Nearly two-thirds of the smartphone users in India are less than 25 years old.
• Users spend on average 169 minutes per day on their smartphones.
• Nearly a quarter of the smartphone users downloaded 18.5 mobile apps and games on average every month.
• Nearly 20 percent of the smartphone users spend over two hours a day using chat and social networking apps
• 15 percent of the smartphone users spend almost an hour each day playing games, listening to music, or watching videos.

The report is based on usage data collected from over 12,000 smartphone users in India, over a three-month period. “This will equip marketers to target the right audience and formulate tighter marketing strategies that yield better results,” says Pranab Punj, associate vice president of global marketing at Vserv.

See the infographic below for further insight.