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INFOGRAPHIC: How is the Arab World Using Smartphones?

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September 28, 2013 06:23 EDT
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An average adult in the Middle East spends nearly an hour a day on their mobile device.

By Stephanie d'Arc Taylor

Two phones out of five in the Middle East are smartphones, according to new data from the International Data Corporation. But how smartphone owners in the region are using their phones might surprise you.

According to this new infographic by Froot, an astonishing 40 percent of smartphone users in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) check their phones less than twice per day. Egyptian smartphone users check their devices the least, with 47 percent of users pulling out their phones just once a day or not at all. This data might help put to rest the stereotype that smartphone users are chained to their devices (at least in this region).

The picture of Egyptian smartphone users gets fuzzier still: apparently, only 50 percent of Egyptian users regularly use an application, and only 55 percent browse the internet.

Without these two activities, the advantages of having a smartphone drop off sharply. If the primary activities of MENA smartphone users are texting and talking, why are people spending their money on smart devices?

*[This article was originally published by Wamda.]

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Image: Copyright ©    Shutterstock. All Rights Reserved

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