Vuclip, the mobile VoD service for emerging markets, has released its Global Video Insights Report for the year 2015, comparing developing markets such as UAE with developed markets in terms of video consumption behaviour of users. The insights are a result of a comprehensive online survey of 4600 users across six developing (India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE and Philippaines) and four developed (US, UK, Singapore and Australia) markets.

The survey insights fall under the four broad categories of OTT VoD service features that viewers consider important, device preference, types of video content consumed and video consumption behaviour.

Key Insights of the Vuclip GVI Survey include:

OTT VoD Service Features that Viewers Consider Important:

• UAE respondents lay greater emphasis on freshness of content (50 per cent) as against those in developed nations (46 per cent).
• UAE respondents reported a fair balance between quality and content as being the most important features in an OTT app:

– 49 per cent lay emphasis on a buffer free experience
– 47 per cent of viewers reported high definition video quality as being a key consideration
– 46 per cent preferred apps offering a smooth user interface
– 42 per cent reported preference based on availability of international content

• 42 per cent of UAE respondents view high data consumption as a key inhibitor to video consumption on smartphones

Device Preference for Video Consumption:

• 69 per cent of respondents in the UAE indicated smartphones as being the preferred device for consuming video unlike other developed (40 per cent) and developing (44 per cent) markets where laptops and PCs are the devices of choice.
• In the UAE, users have evolved to larger screen sizes with 46 per cent of respondents reported to be viewing videos on screen sizes in excess of 5 inches. 31 per cent of respondents across developing markets and 38 per cent across developed nations reported to have evolved to viewing videos on screen sizes in excess of 5 inches.
• 75 per cent of UAE respondents reported using smartphones for daily video consumption. This in stark contrast with other developed (52 per cent) and developing (54 per cent), nations where television is the most preferred choice for daily video viewing.
• Video viewing features high on the list of online activities on smartphones with 42 per cent of UAE respondents reported to doing so in comparison to 32 per cent across the wider developing markets and 34 per cent across developed nations.

Type of Video Content Consumed Across Devices:

• 79 per cent viewers in UAE consume short form video content (run time of under ten minutes) on smartphones as compared to 70 per cent on laptops and 35 per cent on television. However user generated content is (UGC) consumed more on smartphones (19 per cent) than on laptops (12 per cent).
• Across the UAE, the television is the preferred device for both long form consumption (81 per cent) such as films and videos with run time of more than ten minutes in addition to live broadcast videos (25 per cent).
• The proportion of UAE respondents reported to consume long form content on smartphones (45 per cent) exceeds that of the developed markets (33 per cent).

Video Consumption Behaviour:

• Unlike developed nations where usage of Wi-Fi (51 per cent) and mobile networks (49 per cent) for accessing mobile internet is similar, Wi-Fi usage (54 per cent) in the UAE is significantly higher than mobile network usage (44 per cent). This can be attributed to the advanced telecoms infrastructure and ready availability of free Wi-Fi zones across the nation and is also the reason why video consumption while travelling is considerably higher in UAE (51 per cent) as compared to developed nations (46 per cent).
• The study reports increasing use of mobile networks in the UAE, with 35 per cent reported to be using 4G and 9 per cent reported to using 3G networks for mobile internet connectivity. Across the developed nations, 39 per cent reported to be using 4G and 10 per cent reported to using 3G networks.
• Viewers in the UAE reported a higher propensity to download video content (93 per cent) as compared to the developed nations (58 per cent). 23 per cent of viewers in the UAE reported to be using laptops to download content, while 34 per cent reported to download content on smartphones, this is stark contrast to developed nations where the use of laptops (21 per cent) for downloading videos far exceeds use of smartphones (13 per cent).
• The preference to stream videos across both laptops/PCs and smartphones remains similar at 43 per cent in the UAE. In comparison, across the developed nations, the usage of smartphones for streaming (65 per cent) outweighs the usage of laptops/PCs (41 per cent).
• Downloads via torrent (66 per cent) are dominant in UAE as compared to download through other free websites (26 per cent). Propensity to purchase videos is higher in developed nations (52 per cent) compared to UAE (46 per cent).

Commenting on the release of the report, Arun Prakash, COO, Vuclip said, “With more than eight years of video consumption data, we at Vuclip have always used consumer insights such as these to convert data into viewer delight. It is real time data backed insights that help us to know what our audience wants and enables us to be able to effectively exceed consumer expectations whether it be with content, service features or user experience. 2016 will see Vuclip introduce exciting and innovative way for subscribers in the UAE and wider Middle East region to consume entertainment.”

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Research, VOD