Global Media Intelligence 2019: France

Key Features

For the first time, internet users in France are more likely to own a smartphone than a PC.

• In H1 2018, France was one of the few countries in Western Europe where more survey respondents polled by GlobalWebIndex owned a PC than a smartphone—though the difference was slight. As of H1 2019, smartphones had finally overtaken PCs, with ownership estimated at 92.3% and 85.8% of internet users, respectively.
• Younger consumers are the key to this shift. Fully, 97.6% of 16- to 24-year-olds owned a smartphone, while 81.9% had a desktop or laptop. In the 45-to-64 age bracket, that pattern was reversed: PC ownership was above average, and smartphone ownership was below average. During the same period, feature phone ownership in France dropped below 9%.

Consumers tend to keep their older devices, rather than rush to get new ones.

• France has a relatively high uptake of game consoles, too. Over 40% of internet users polled in H1 2019 owned such a device.
• More than a quarter of internet users owned a smart TV—a lower share than in other Western European countries; Belgium and Denmark, for example, registered ownership over 40%. Similarly, fewer than 10% of internet users in France owned a TV streaming device, smartwatch, smart wristband or smart-home product.