India & Facebook Usage on Mobile: Aakash Srivastava

Prabhavya Interactive 1 September 2013

India “Likes” Facebook on Mobile Aakash Srivastava

Global Scenario A recent report from ComScore stated that India is now the world’s third largest internet user after USA and China. It

went on to add that Indians spend nearly a quarter of their time online on Social Media. India has been the world’s

second largest Facebook user after USA for a while now. The Chinese have next to no presence on Facebook while

Japan, the country India replaced to become the world’s third largest internet user, clocks in at 22 million users but

does not feature in the list of top 10 countries using Facebook.

Facebook Users Population FB Penetration

USA 180000000 310866000 58%

India 88000000 1220800359 7%

Brazil 84000000 201032714 42%

Indonesia 64000000 237556363 27%

Mexico 50000000 117409830 43%

UK 36000000 63705000 57%

Turkey 36000000 75627384 48%

Philippines 34000000 98307000 35%

France 28000000 65707000 43%

Germany 26000000 80523700 32%

Table 1

Various sources peg India’s Internet penetration at around 12% to 14%. With a 7% penetration and 88 million users,

Facebook data provides fairly reliable insights into Indian Internet usage in general even though there are bound to

be some age-specific and intent-specific variations.

Facebook Users Mobile Users MU %

USA 180000000 138000000 77%

India 88000000 57200000 65%

Brazil 84000000 44000000 52%

Indonesia 64000000 48000000 75%

Mexico 50000000 34000000 68%

UK 36000000 28000000 78%

Turkey 36000000 19800000 55%

Philippines 34000000 16200000 48%

France 28000000 17200000 61%

Germany 26000000 18800000 72%

Table 2

Nearly 65% of Facebook users from India access the network on Mobile. If it was a separate country, at 57.2 Million

mobile users, the Indian Mobile Facebook user base would rank as the 5th largest Facebook user in the world. Note

that Facebook access on Mobile in India (65%) is far higher than Brazil (52%), the only other BRICS country featuring

in the top 10.

That Internet in India is a mobile driven phenomenon is well established – with 7 out of 8 internet users accessing

the internet on mobile according to TRAI. Cheaper internet access on mobile is fuelling the India Facebook story as

well.

India & Facebook Usage on Mobile: Aakash Srivastava

Prabhavya Interactive 2 September 2013

While mobile penetration in India is far higher than wire line Internet penetration, note that India has the lowest

mobile tele-density among the top 10 Facebook using countries. There is also a huge opportunity for growth in terms

of mobile subscribers using Facebook on mobile. Currently Facebook penetration among mobile subscribers in India

stands at 7%. Telecom service providers have already started offering special promotion packs for Facebook access.

We expect to see a lot more action in this segment in the near future.

Facebook Users

Mobile Users

Popn. Mobile Subscribers

FB Pen. FB Pen. on Mobile

Mobile TD

USA 180000000 138000000 310866000 327577529 58% 42% 105.4

India 88000000 57200000 1220800359 873360000 7% 7% 71.5

Brazil 84000000 44000000 201032714 265741000 42% 17% 132.2

Indonesia 64000000 48000000 237556363 236800000 27% 20% 99.7

Mexico 50000000 34000000 117409830 92900000 43% 37% 79.1

UK 36000000 28000000 63705000 75750000 57% 37% 118.9

Turkey 36000000 19800000 75627384 66000000 48% 30% 87.3

Philippines 34000000 16200000 98307000 106987098 35% 15% 108.8

France 28000000 17200000 65707000 72180000 43% 24% 109.9

Germany 26000000 18800000 80523700 107658000 32% 17% 133.7

Table 3

Local Scenario According to the 2011 Census of India, the country has 641000 villages housing 72.2% of the population. The urban

population which accounts for 27.8% of the total, lives in 5100 towns and 380 urban agglomerations - 53 of which

have a population of 1 million or more. Facebook in India however, is so far a very exclusively limited urban

phenomenon. 15 cities account for around 45% of the Facebook usage in India.

Facebook Users Mobile Facebook Users MU%

Male Female Total Male Female Total

India 66000000 22000000 88000000 44000000 13200000 57200000 65%

Delhi 5600000 2200000 7800000 3560000 1360000 4920000 63%

Mumbai 4600000 1960000 6560000 3160000 1220000 4380000 67%

Bangalore 3000000 1240000 4240000 1820000 680000 2500000 59%

Hyderabad 2800000 940000 3740000 1500000 460000 1960000 52%

Chennai 2600000 920000 3520000 1500000 452000 1952000 55%

Pune 2200000 800000 3000000 1480000 464000 1944000 65%

Kolkata 2000000 820000 2820000 1220000 480000 1700000 60%

Jaipur 1040000 340000 1380000 680000 214000 894000 65%

Ahmedabad 960000 320000 1280000 620000 190000 810000 63%

Chandigarh 860000 360000 1220000 580000 230000 810000 66%

Lucknow 740000 280000 1020000 460000 166000 626000 61%

Surat 640000 172000 812000 466000 114000 580000 71%

Indore 560000 200000 760000 370000 122200 492200 65%

Bhopal 520000 192000 712000 340000 112000 452000 63%

Nagpur 460000 182000 642000 300000 108000 408000 64%

Table 4

India & Facebook Usage on Mobile: Aakash Srivastava

Prabhavya Interactive 3 September 2013

Among the top 15 Indian cities on Facebook, Surat has the highest relative mobile Facebook usage at 71% while

surprisingly, Hyderabad, one of India’s top IT destinations ranks the lowest with 52% relative mobile Facebook usage.

Mumbai and Chandigarh have the highest percentage of female Facebook users at 30% - 5% above the national

average. While Surat with 21% female Facebook users comes in 4% below the national average. Interestingly, the

Male-Female gender representation on Facebook, which is already abysmal at 75% to 25% in favor of males, drops a

few more percentage points when we look at the Facebook on Mobile numbers. Except Delhi and Lucknow, which

maintain their representation ration, all other cities on the list drop between 1 to 3 percentage points.

Facebook Users Facebook Users (Mobile)

Male Female Total M F Male Female Total M F

India 66000000 22000000 88000000 75% 25% 44000000 13200000 57200000 77% 23%

Delhi 5600000 2200000 7800000 72% 28% 3560000 1360000 4920000 72% 28%

Mumbai 4600000 1960000 6560000 70% 30% 3160000 1220000 4380000 72% 28%

Bangalore 3000000 1240000 4240000 71% 29% 1820000 680000 2500000 73% 27%

Hyderabad 2800000 940000 3740000 75% 25% 1500000 460000 1960000 77% 23%

Chennai 2600000 920000 3520000 74% 26% 1500000 452000 1952000 77% 23%

Pune 2200000 800000 3000000 73% 27% 1480000 464000 1944000 76% 24%

Kolkata 2000000 820000 2820000 71% 29% 1220000 480000 1700000 72% 28%

Jaipur 1040000 340000 1380000 75% 25% 680000 214000 894000 76% 24%

Ahmedabad 960000 320000 1280000 75% 25% 620000 190000 810000 77% 23%

Chandigarh 860000 360000 1220000 70% 30% 580000 230000 810000 72% 28%

Lucknow 740000 280000 1020000 73% 27% 460000 166000 626000 73% 27%

Surat 640000 172000 812000 79% 21% 466000 114000 580000 80% 20%

Indore 560000 200000 760000 74% 26% 370000 122200 492200 75% 25%

Bhopal 520000 192000 712000 73% 27% 340000 112000 452000 75% 25%

Nagpur 460000 182000 642000 72% 28% 300000 108000 408000 74% 26%

Table 5

Getting Smart When we drill down on Facebook access on Mobile we find that at the national level, the split between access

through Feature Phones and Smart Devices (Smartphones and Tablets) is exactly 50%. Increased affordability and

choice of devices has definitely caught the country’s fancy.

Facebook Access Through Users (In Millions)

Web Only 30.8

Feature Phone 28.6

Smart Devices 28.6

Total 88

Table 6

Among the cities, Ahmedabad and Surat have the top two slots for relative Smart Device Users at 65% and 64%

respectively while Kolkata occupies the bottom rung with 40% smart device users – a whole 10 % points below the

national average.

India & Facebook Usage on Mobile: Aakash Srivastava

Prabhavya Interactive 4 September 2013

Overall Mobile Feature Phone Smart Devices MU%

(Overall) FPU%

(Mobile) SDU%

(Mobile)

India 88000000 57200000 28600000 28600000 65% 50% 50%

Delhi 7800000 4920000 2220000 2700000 63% 45% 55%

Mumbai 6560000 4380000 1820000 2560000 67% 42% 58%

Bangalore 4240000 2500000 980000 1520000 59% 39% 61%

Hyderabad 3740000 1960000 900000 1060000 52% 46% 54%

Chennai 3520000 1952000 832000 1120000 55% 43% 57%

Pune 3000000 1944000 824000 1120000 65% 42% 58%

Kolkata 2820000 1700000 1020000 680000 60% 60% 40%

Jaipur 1380000 894000 442000 452000 65% 49% 51%

Ahmedabad 1280000 810000 286000 524000 63% 35% 65%

Chandigarh 1220000 810000 390000 420000 66% 48% 52%

Lucknow 1020000 626000 328000 298000 61% 52% 48%

Surat 812000 580000 206000 374000 71% 36% 64%

Indore 760000 492200 200000 292000 65% 41% 59%

Bhopal 712000 452000 216000 236000 63% 48% 52%

Nagpur 642000 408000 188000 220000 64% 46% 54%

Table 7

What is interesting to note is that while at the national level, the gender split for the Feature phone and Smart

Devices user groups is identical (77% Males – 23% Females,) for the top 15 cities, the proportion of females is higher

in the group using Smart Devices to access Facebook in all cases except Lucknow and Nagpur.

Facebook Users (Featurephone)

Facebook Users (Smart Devices)

Male Female Total M F Male Female Total M F

India 22000000 6600000 28600000 77% 23% 22000000 6600000 28600000 77% 23%

Delhi 1640000 580000 2220000 74% 26% 1920000 780000 2700000 71% 29%

Mumbai 1360000 460000 1820000 75% 25% 1800000 760000 2560000 70% 30%

Bangalore 720000 260000 980000 73% 27% 1100000 420000 1520000 72% 28%

Hyderabad 700000 200000 900000 78% 22% 800000 260000 1060000 75% 25%

Chennai 640000 192000 832000 77% 23% 860000 260000 1120000 77% 23%

Pune 640000 184000 824000 78% 22% 840000 280000 1120000 75% 25%

Kolkata 740000 280000 1020000 73% 27% 480000 200000 680000 71% 29%

Jaipur 340000 102000 442000 77% 23% 340000 112000 452000 75% 25%

Ahmedabad 220000 66000 286000 77% 23% 400000 124000 524000 76% 24%

Chandigarh 280000 110000 390000 72% 28% 300000 120000 420000 71% 29%

Lucknow 240000 88000 328000 73% 27% 220000 78000 298000 74% 26%

Surat 166000 40000 206000 81% 19% 300000 74000 374000 80% 20%

Indore 150000 50000 200000 75% 25% 220000 72000 292000 75% 25%

Bhopal 162000 54000 216000 75% 25% 178000 58000 236000 75% 25%

Nagpur 136000 52000 188000 72% 28% 164000 56000 220000 75% 25%

Table 8

India & Facebook Usage on Mobile: Aakash Srivastava

Prabhavya Interactive 5 September 2013

Conclusions & Implications Facebook’s India usage numbers throw up some interesting insights and implications for a variety of stakeholders.

Facebook

India is a huge market for Facebook as a platform. It has already expressed concerns about the lack of universal

internet access in India because it adversely impacts its growth as a platform.

Growth in mobile Facebook usage is again something that Facebook would want to promote. Facebook’s last two

earnings reports show that the platform made $0.5 per mobile user in Advertising revenue in Q1 2013 which grew to

$0.8 per mobile user in Q2 2013. Experts expect this number to nudge upwards of $1 per mobile user in Q3 2013.

Clearly a burgeoning mobile user base is good news for the platform. Since the wire line internet penetration is

unlikely to catch up with mobile penetration in India anytime soon, expect to see a lot more co-branded promotions

offering free or discounted Facebook access on mobile networks to get people on Facebook. As is the case with

networks in general, once you’re in and have accumulated a fair number of connections, chances are that you’ll stay.

Mobile Service Providers

Growth for Mobile Service Provides in India will be driven by Data rather than Voice. Getting users hooked to

reasonable mobile internet speeds by lowering the entry barriers through introductory offers/promotions should be

the focus in the near term. Availability of high speed internet access will drive usage of data intensive VAS apps and

push the ARPU up for the telcos.

The data reveals that several cities with fairly high population still do not have a substantial user base on Facebook.

Perhaps the need of the hour is to revisit the granularity of circle level promotions and focus on high population –

low internet penetration areas. Vizag, for example, has a population of 1.7 million but has only 340000 Facebook

users. Cities like Cochin, Agra, etc. could see a surge in mobile internet users with a more focused acquisition

strategy.

Mobile Device Manufacturers

Feature phones are on their way out. Nokia found that out the hard way with their Asha series. Having an internet

enabled feature phone that allows access to specific sites or apps is no longer enough. Given that the Indian handset

market is flooded with low cost smartphone options, there is very little incentive for a user to opt for a feature

phone. Smartphone manufacturers would do well to beef up their distribution and service networks in smaller cities

and towns.

India

These numbers throws some pretty uncomfortable questions for India as a country. Why are females so grossly

underrepresented both on Facebook in particular, and the Internet in general? This isn’t a phenomenon restricted to

smaller cities. It’s the case across the board – in all towns and all age groups. That the surge in violent crime against

women has shrunk the safe public spaces available to them is shameful enough. It seems we’re also wholly unwilling

to share the digital space with them.

Rural and semi urban India’s digital story seems to have hit a road block as well. Given that the mobile teledensity in

rural areas still languishes in the low 40s, why is the growth rate of rural mobile subscribers so low? Are the reasons

infrastructure driven, policy driven, or simply a question of affordability? Of course there are far bigger problems

plaguing the country at the moment, but a systemic approach to achieving universal internet access could go a long

way in helping us achieve the elusive ideal of inclusive growth.

India & Facebook Usage on Mobile: Aakash Srivastava

Prabhavya Interactive 6 September 2013

Acronyms/Abbreviations Used FB – Facebook

MU – Mobile Users

FPU – Feature Phone Users

SDU – Smart Device Users

Popn. – Population

Pen. – Penetration

M/F – Male / Female

TD – Tele-Density

Sources Population Totals

Census of India, 2011 - http://www.censusindia.gov.in/

United States Census Bureau – http://www.census.gov

IBGE - http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/populacao/estimativa2013/estimativa_dou.shtm

BPS Indonesia - http://www.bps.go.id/eng/tab_sub/view.php?kat=1&tabel=1&daftar=1&id_subyek=12&notab=1

CEdP Mexico -

http://www.coespomor.gob.mx/investigacion_poblacion/proyeccion_20013/proyeciones%20a%202013_datos%20num

ericos.pdf

Office for National Statistics, UK - http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_320900.pdf

Turkish Statistical Institute - http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=13425

Commission on Population, Philippines - http://www.popcom.gov.ph/

INSEE, France - http://www.insee.fr/en/bases-de-donnees/bsweb/serie.asp?idbank=001641607

DEStatis, Germany -

https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesellschaftStaat/Bevoelkerung/Bevoelkerungsstand/Tabellen/Zensus_Ges

chlecht_Staatsangehoerigkeit.html

Facebook Usage Data Facebook – http://www.facebook.com Retr. 6th Sep 2013

Mobile Penetration Data TRAI, 30 June 2013 - http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PressRealease/Document/PR-65-TSD-June13.pdf

CTIA - http://www.ctia.org/consumer_info/index.cfm/AID/10323

ISTOE - http://www.istoe.com.br/reportagens/314567_BRASIL

CIA World Factbook - https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2151rank.html

ITU - http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx

Mobi Thinking - http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a

Informa WCIS - http://www.informatandm.com/about/wcis/