Tuesday, 21 May 2013

State of the Nation New Zealand: Wellington goes wild for smartphones

Smartphone ownership in Auckland, Wellington and the rest of New Zealand

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (New Zealand), July 2010 – March 2013 (n = 31,533).
Base: New Zealand population aged 14+

Hands up who remembers old-school rotary-dial telephones? It seems they’re fast becoming a distant memory for most Kiwis, judging by findings in the latest Roy Morgan State of the Nation New Zealand report. Not only does more than 90% of the country’s population own or use a mobile phone, but in Wellington, smartphone ownership is growing at a vertiginous rate.

In the quarter to March 2013, the proportion of Wellingtonians who own a smartphone jumped from 34.9% to 42%, leaving Auckland (39.2%) and the rest of New Zealand (34.5%) in its iPhone- and Android-fuelled wake.

Driving this growth is the 35-49 age bracket, 53.1% of whom own a smartphone (as opposed to 44.8% of similarly-aged Aucklanders). The city’s male residents have taken to smartphones with particular zeal: 48% of them own one, compared to 41.3% of Auckland men and 35.9% of men from the rest of New Zealand.

The ‘early adopter’ effect

Part of the reason for the rising smartphone penetration in Wellington may be the city’s comparatively high proportion of tech-adept residents.

Viewed through the lens of Roy Morgan’s Technology Adoption Segments, 21.6% of Wellington’s population can be classified as ‘Early Adopters’, individuals who embrace new technologies as they emerge. No surprise, then, that the vast majority (70.1%) of this segment owns smartphones.

Technology Adoption Segments in New Zealand

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (New Zealand), April 2012 – March 2013
Base: New Zealand population aged 14+

Hot on their heels are the ‘Professional Technology Mainstream,’ comprising 15.8% of the city’s population. Nearly half (47.7%) of these people are smartphone owners.

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“With its substantial population of technologically-savvy professionals, public servants and residents from the top socioeconomic quintile, Wellington is ripe for smartphone penetration.

“Wellingtonians also enjoy the nation’s highest average household income, which means they’re more likely to be able to afford these costly phones than many Aucklanders or other New Zealanders.

“As more Kiwis move onto the 4G network, we can expect to see smartphone ownership rise further, not only in Wellington but in Auckland and the rest of the country too.”

In this Roy Morgan State of the Nation Report, we have measured all of these issues and more – plotted them over time – and explored in more detail how they have played out, in terms of Society, Technology, Economy, Politics, and Environment. Click here to view the report and other Roy Morgan reports and data.

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About Roy Morgan Research

Roy Morgan Research is the largest independent Australian research company, with offices in each state of Australia, as well as in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has over 70 years’ experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers.

In Australia, Roy Morgan Research is considered to be the authoritative source of information on financial behaviour, readership, voting intentions and consumer confidence. Roy Morgan Research is a specialist in recontact customised surveys which provide invaluable and effective qualitative and quantitative information regarding customers and target markets.

Roy Morgan Research New Zealand

Roy Morgan Research was set up in New Zealand in the 1990s and has been collecting information across a wide range of industries in New Zealand ever since. Roy Morgan currently has over 10 years of trended data on a geographically and demographically representative sample of over 12,000 New Zealanders aged 14+.

Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

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Roy Morgan Research

New Zealand's leading social and market research company

A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has over 70 years' experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers. Roy Morgan Research was set up in New Zealand in the 1990s and has been collecting information across a wide range of industries in New Zealand ever since. Roy Morgan currently has over 10 years of trended data on a geographically and demographically representative sample of over 12,000 New Zealanders aged 14+.

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