Vietnamese online obsession stretches to three working days per week

By Dam Tuan June 25, 2016 | 04:48 am PT

The number of Vietnamese people with smart phones and other personal devices to access the internet is increasing compared to other countries in Southeast Asia.

91 percent of Vietnamese having smart phones shows a drastic shift in Vietnam’s media content consumption that is accelerating dependence on virtual life among youngsters who spend up to 27 hours per week online. Vietnamese internet users also have the convenience of choosing when, where and how they access media content, according to the Cross-Platform Report recently issued by Nielsen.

The report shows that the number of Vietnamese with a smart phone has climbed sharply from 82 percent in 2014 to 91 percent this year. Pay TV/cable TV (79 percent), laptops (78 percent) and desktop computers (75 percent) are also popular among Vietnamese users. Ownership of connected TV, smart TV and tablets also remains quite high (over 43 percent).

vietnamese-spend-three-working-days-per-week-surfing-internet

Vietnamese are becoming more dependent on personal digital devices. Photo from fptshop.com.vn

The report conducted in nine Asian markets (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong) indicates Southeast Asia users spend around three full working days surfing the internet per week. Vietnamese consumers spend on average 24 hours and 7 minutes accessing the internet per week through digital platforms, equivalent to their peers in the Philippines. In Asia, consumers in Singapore are the most digitally active, averaging 25 hours and 9 minutes per week.

Young people aged from 21 to 29 are online the most, spending up to 27 hours and 2 minutes per week and having the fastest growth rate of any other age group. Following is the over 40 group which spends 22 hours and 6 minutes surfing.

“The rapid up-take of connected devices, especially smartphones and tablets, is instrumental in media consumption shifting beyond traditional media formats such as broadcast TV, and also beyond traditional time parts,” said Doan Duy Khoa, director of Consumer Insights at Nielsen Vietnam.

Khoa added: “For media owners, it is becoming increasingly important to understand consumers’ viewing habits in order to deliver the right content at the right time, working in partnership with advertisers to uncover new opportunities to connect with and engage consumers to build brand awareness, affinity and loyalty.”

Traditional TV continues to lead in terms of content distribution platforms, with 72 percent of consumers as regular TV watchers. However, alternative platforms have been emerging as more Vietnamese choose to watch TV content and movies via online platforms such as video on demand (78 percent). 67 percent of VOD subscribers claim to stream video content every day. YouTube (97 percent), Facebook (81 percent) and nhaccuatui.com (56 percent) are the top three sources for VOD content.

“The strong desire for more content options and content-on-demand is driving consumers to source online-delivered content which in the past has been the domain of traditional media sources,” Khoa underlined. “Consumers are exercising their choice of how, when and where they can obtain their content and are more active in their media habits than ever before.”

Compared to other countries in Asia, Vietnamese spend more time online each week for personal purposes than Hong Kong (24.4 hours), Malaysia (24.2), India (24.1), Taiwan (23), Indonesia (20.3), and Thailand (19.5), and are only behind Singapore (25.9) and the Philippines (24.7).

The Nielsen Vietnam Cross-Platform Insights Report 2015 provides a comprehensive view of the way Vietnamese use digital media in today’s cross-platform environment, helping to understand the level of cross-device content consumption.

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