A new study has revealed how the increase of smartphones and tablets for home connectivity, together with the popularity of streaming services, could be the death knell for PC and laptop use in the home.
The report, produced by Post Office HomePhone and Broadband, highlights the steady growth of sites such as Netflix, Cloudload and Google Play as well as the growing battle between on-air and online entertainment channels.
Streaming or downloading television programmes ranked as one of the top three most popular uses for broadband at home with one in eight homes now viewing this media predominantly via online channels.
Unsurprisingly, 18-24 year olds are the most likely to stream this kind of content through their home broadband of any age group (21 per cent).
The study found that nearly a third of UK households are now using either a smartphone or tablet as their main browsing device. However, PCs and Laptops still remain popular for accessing the internet at home (26 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively), but not among the younger generations it seems.
Only 15 per cent of 18-24 year olds still use PCs as their main browsing platform compared with two in five (40 per cent) over 55s. In addition, just 10 per cent of 18-24 year olds admit that they don’t own a PC or laptop, a figure that rises to 12 per cent among 25-34 year olds.
In comparison, nearly a quarter of 18-24 year olds choose a smartphone as their browsing device of choice. One in seven 45-54 year olds now opt for a tablet when browsing at home.
“Streaming and on-demand entertainment services respond to the needs of the time-poor consumer and our report demonstrates how the convenience of these entertainment channels is beginning to dominate the UK’s home browsing activity,” said Hugh Stacey, head of Post Office HomePhone and Broadband.
“While smart phones and tablets provide convenience when accessing the internet away from home, it’s interesting to see that they are now superseding the PC and laptop as the device of choice in nearly of third of households as well.”
