Global Media Intelligence 2019: Australia

Key Features

PCs and tablets are widespread in Australia, but many newer digital devices have yet to hold major influence. More people own a tablet than a smart TV, for example.

• These days, tablets are often considered rather outmoded technology, increasingly rendered obsolete by smartphones. That’s not the case in Australia. According to GlobalWebIndex, 52.8% of internet users ages 16 to 64 owned a tablet in H1 2019. Tablet ownership was especially high among respondents ages 35 to 54 and those in higher-income households, but it was lower for those ages 16 to 24.
• By contrast, smart TV penetration among total internet users stood at 43.6%. Again, 35- to 54-year-olds were most likely to own such a device. But only one demographic registered penetration over 50%: respondents in the top 25% of households, ranked by income.
• Tablet ownership is just one aspect of a market where older, nonmobile digital devices still claim a major slice of usage and time spent. Ownership of desktops/laptops was high in H1 2019, at 83.4% of survey respondents. Internet users spent an average of 3 hours, 25 minutes (3:25) with PCs and tablets per day—over an hour more than any other activity, including broadcast TV (2:18) and mobile (2:12).
• Though smartphone ownership (94.5% of internet users) wasn’t appreciably lower than in other advanced economies, mobile time clearly didn’t rocket higher.