Devices to Access Online News: Smartphones, Tablets, and E-Readers

In the UK, we have already seen that significant numbers of people are using smartphones (28%) and tablets (8%) to access the news every week, but this doesn’t give a sense of how important these devices are today and how this might change.

We asked online users their main way of accessing news and, though the computer is still dominant as an access point, for a significant minority mobiles are emerging as the most important device (13%).

Main way of accessing online news

Q13 You said earlier that you regularly spent time looking at news online (on a PC/laptop,
mobile, tablet, Smart TV or e-reader), which is your MAIN way of accessing online news?

Base = Those who use PC/laptop, mobile, tablet, Smart TV or e-reader to access news online (n=1948)

Again, the demographic story is particularly interesting with the younger groups showing strongest affinity towards accessing news via a mobile phone. More than a quarter of the 25–34 year old group (27%) say their main way of accessing online news is now through a mobile phone, whereas the over 55s show almost no interest in accessing news this way. Tablet users show a different spread, with the cost putting them outside the reach of most younger users but with older groups starting to embrace the simplicity and ease of use.

Main way of accessing online news by age

Q13 You said earlier that you regularly spent time looking at news online (on a PC/laptop,
mobile, tablet, Smart TV or e-reader), which is your MAIN way of accessing online news?

Base = Those who use PC/laptop, mobile, tablet, Smart TV or e-reader to access news online (n=1948)

Both smartphone and tablet access is even more male- dominated than general computer news usage (60% male usage for tablet and 55% for mobile). Mobile news use is also particularly focused on the C1 lower middle class grouping (38%), whereas tablets are overwhelmingly the preserve of the AB middle and upper middle class (43%). As prices fall and penetration of both types of devices grows it will be interesting to see if these demographic differences even out.

Socio-economic demographics by device : Computer

Socio-economic demographics by device : Mobile

Socio-economic demographics by device : Tablet

National Readership Survey social grades classify AB as managerial/professional, C1 as supervisory/clerical, C2 as skilled manual workers, DE as semi-skilled, unskilled, on welfare

Q4a Which of the following have you used to access the news in the last month?

Base All (n=2173) Computer (n=1816), Mobile (n=756), Tablet (n=213)

Partly as a result of these demographic differences, the types of news stories accessed by device also varies – though the mobile context is also a factor. Stories that update regularly – such as sports scores and financial information – are proportionally more heavily accessed from smartphones (36% and 34%) than general news (28%). Celebrity news and technology stories, which tend to be widely shared via social apps, also tend to over-index on mobiles and tablets.

% accessing different news by device

Q4a Which of the following have you used to access the news in the last week?

Base All (n=2162) Computer (n=1598), Mobile (n=607), Tablet (n=170)

Mobile and tablet experience compared with a fixed computer

Specifically we asked some questions about the quality of experience on a mobile and tablet and about the costs of access, which are sometimes more of a factor than with a fixed-line computer.

Those who read news on a mobile phone are more concerned about the cost of accessing news (32%) than those who read news on a computer. Tablet users are generally less concerned (22%) as the majority of usage remains via Wifi-only devices that do not carry an extra tariff – and tablet owners tend to be from higher income groups.

Accessing news via tablet and mobile phone

Q17b You’ve told us that you read news on a TABLET/MOBILE as well as on a PC. With that in mind, please could you tell us how much you agree or disagree with the following statements:

Base All who read news on a mobile and a PC (n=731) All who read news on a tablet and a PC (n=289)

A quarter of mobile phone users say they rarely finish reading a news article on these devices. In contrast, only 9% of tablet users say they rarely finish articles – lending weight to the view that these devices are better for news consumption. Equally striking is the perception, from almost 40% of tablet users, that viewing news is a better experience on a tablet than via a PC. This may reflect the bigger and better quality screen, but also the optimised experiences that many news providers have created through apps that are usually designed with less clutter than a normal news website.

Sources of news online

Despite the range of choices available online, it is striking that the number of sources accessed is still relatively modest for most people. Our survey shows that on a computer 81% used three or fewer sources of news each week, with only 14% using more than four sources. Mobile users seem slightly less adventurous, with 87% using fewer than three sources, but users of tablets were significantly less likely to use only one source (21%) and a quarter used more than four sources each week.

Sources of news by main access point

Q14 In a typical week how many different ONLINE news providers do you use (including traditional and non-traditional sources, specialist digital publications etc)?

Base All (n=2173) Main access point for online news Computer (n=1564) Mobile (n=256) Tablet (n=84)

Overall, however, it seems that it is the interest in news rather than the device that has the biggest impact on the number of sources used. Looking at our news segmentation, we can see the news absorbed tend to use far more sources of news than the other two groups – over a third are using more than four sources every week.

Sources of news accessed per week by segment

Q14 In a typical week how many different ONLINE news providers do you use (including traditional and non-traditional sources, specialist digital publications etc)?

Base All (n=2173)

We were not able to ask this question outside the UK this year, but it would be interesting in subsequent years to see if this pattern is different in the United States or France where we know there is higher consumption of blogs, portals, and new internet news players.