Global Media Intelligence 2019: Taiwan

Key Features

Taiwan’s media landscape is maturing, with most digital devices showing modest gains in ownership in the past year.

• In H1 2018, smartphones were much more widespread than PCs in Taiwan—indeed, this difference was greater than in most other countries polled by GlobalWebIndex. In 2019, that gap is even more pronounced. While 98.6% of internet users ages 16 to 64 owned a smartphone, fewer than 79% owned a desktop or laptop as well. Tablet penetration had risen slightly, from 42.6% in 2018 to 44.2% this year.
• The way in which internet users distribute their daily media time via these devices has also shifted. In H1 2018, average time spent with PCs and tablets amounted to nearly an hour more each day than time spent with mobile devices. In 2019, PCs and tablets still captured more attention, at 4 hours, 5 minutes (4:05) per day, but mobile phones claimed 3:37.
• Some 26.2% of internet users polled in H1 2019 owned a smart TV; that figure was up about 4 percentage points over the prior year.
• Smart wristbands and smartwatches were surprisingly popular in H1 2019, with 15.1% and 11.9%, respectively, of internet users owning one. Penetration rose broadly in line with age but was more closely associated with affluence. For example, nearly 24% of respondents living in the top 25% of households, ranked by income, owned a smart wristband, compared with 10.5% of those in the lowest 25%.
• Smart-home products, which are newer to the market, lingered below 10% of internet users in H1 2019, but the distribution across demographic groups was similar to that of smart TVs. Older respondents—except those ages 55 to 64—were more likely than younger ones to own such products, and penetration among internet users living in affluent homes was well into double digits.
• Internet users were much more likely to use voice assistants; 38.9% of respondents had done so in the prior month. Males and 16- to 34-year-olds recorded penetration well above that average, as did affluents and respondents residing in urban areas.