Digital divide closes among India’s “Post-Millennials” with ~70% students owning smartphones nationally
- Ownership of smartphones similar across Tier I and II cities
- Smartphone adoption driving mobile Internet access
- Three out of four use internet for school-related work
- Urban millenials live in “wired homes”; 84% access internet from home
- Social networks are the preferred communication mode over calls or mails
- Predictably, over 50% own an Android-powered smart device
Mumbai, June 14, 2013: India’s “Post-Millennials” generation seem set to overtake the preceding “Millennial” generation or “Gen Y,” taking communication over social networks like Facebook and Twitter and instant messaging modes like Whatsapp to newer extremes, according to the findings of the TCS survey 2012-13, which was released today.
The findings of India’s largest survey of nearly 17,500 high school students across 14 Indian cities – the first such survey of an exclusive Post-Millennial audience – reveals that smart devices and unprecedented levels of online access are making this generation the most connected yet. This is changing the way they communicate with each other and transforming both their academic and social lives.
Top 10 Trends (Note: These percentages represent all India figures) |
% |
| Uses Facebook | 92 |
| Accesses Net from Home | 84 |
| Uses Facebook/Twitter to communicate socially | 74 |
| Owns a mobile phone | 65 |
| Accesses the Internet to chat/connect/blog | 63 |
| Buys movie tickets online | 62 |
| Owns a smartphone | 59 |
| Owns an Android-run smart device | 54 |
Use a Samsung-branded electronic device |
48 |
| Shops online | 37 |
Commenting on the TCS survey, N Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD, TCS, said, “Urban school students today are gaining greater online access with more affordable bandwidth and smart devices on offer. They are an ultra-connected generation, using the power of the internet for education as well as collaborating through social networks and building virtual communities. As significant employers of India’s talented youth, it is important for us to understand these social and digital trends to create engaging careers for this generation.”
Releasing the survey, Ajoy Mukherjee, Executive Vice President and Global Head HR, TCS, said, “The survey shows the increasing comfort levels that the post-millennial generation exhibit with digital technology, social networking, smartphones and gaming, which helps us create conditions to unleash their creativity and innovativeness. This can help us not just attract the best of their talent but also aid in keeping them engaged and energized.”
Survey Highlights:
The TCS GenY survey 2012-13 shows remarkable common trends among urban high school students across the country but also reveals differences between metros and upcoming Tier II towns, which are emerging as mini-metros:
- School–2–Social: Nearly three out of four students cited “Research for School” as the main reason to access the Internet followed by social reasons like chatting/connecting with friends (62 percent). Still, Post-Millennials are showing themselves to be even more focused than Millennials, with accessing email growing as a preference (49 percent vs. 44.54 percent in 2011-12) at the cost of listening to music (45.47 percent vs. 50.27 percent in 2011-12).
- Home is Where we Connect: About 84 percent of students go online from home compared to just 58 percent (in 2009)
- Use of cybercafes as an online access point has dropped dramatically, falling from 46 percent in 2009 to 14 percent today.
- Nearly one in five respondents spend between a whopping 2-3 hours on the Internet daily, while one in four spend between 1-2 hours.
- Gr8 Networks: Social networks like Facebook are the primary and clear favorite among Post-Millennials to connect with their peers with 92 percent of the respondents preferring this social platform. Interestingly, the preference for Facebook is equally high among respondents in both metros (92 percent) and mini metros (91 percent). Other social platforms like Orkut have taken a backseat with a 28 percent preference.
- Tweeting as a medium of communication is now being used by one in three Post Millennials in the TCS survey though only two percent listed it as their preferred site.
- Made 4 Mobility: Nearly seven out of every 10 high school students own mobile phones and nearly 20 percent use mobile phones to access the Internet (compared to just 12 percent in 2009).
- An emerging trend is the use of tablets with almost 19 percent using these new devices with users in metros (20 percent) outnumbering their peers in mini metros (17 percent)
- Mobiles (18.17 percent) have emerged as the fastest growing mediums for accessing the Internet among Post-Millennials, at the expense of home (72.03 percent vs. 84.29 percent last year), school (14.41 percent vs. 22.08 percent) and cyber cafes (13.57 percent vs. 20.54 percent).
- Smarter with Smartphones: Nearly six out of ten Post-Millennial respondents own a smartphone, but what is remarkable is the fact that the difference in ownership patterns between metros (58.50 percent) and mini metros (59.36 percent) isn’t much, with the smaller cities scoring over the larger ones.
- Type, don’t Call: The TCS survey makes it clear that increasingly India’s urban Post-Millennial generation is turning to text and chat as alternatives to voice. 74 percent of those surveyed said they use Facebook the most to communicate, while 54 percent used SMS – both significantly higher than the number of students who said they used voice calls (44 percent) for the same purpose
- Reflecting poorer connectivity levels, use of email (44 percent) in mini-metros continues to higher than metros (40 percent) but respondents from the latter scored higher in the usage of Facebook and SMS.
- Tablets No Bitter Medicine: Post-Millennials are clearly ahead of the curve preferring tablets, which are fast climbing the charts as the favorite gadget (18.41 percent all India vs. 5.83 percent last year) with this generation
- Tablet ownership made an entry this year with 38 percent owning a device, with 40 percent metro-based respondents owning one compared with 35 percent in mini metros.
- Brand is In: The new generation also is as clued into brands are the Millennials before them, if not more. Top mobile/tablet brands are not too far apart in terms of desirability both for respondents in metros and mini metros. Preferred electronic devices in order of preference include the following:
- Samsung (48.28 percent)
- Nokia (46.46 percent)
- Apple (39.56 percent)
- HTC (36.54 percent)
- Shopping from Home: Not only do Post-Millennials know what they want, but they also are clear about how to shop for it. Four out of ten respondents shop online now while one in four respondents buy clothes and accessories online.
- Respondents from mini-metros shop online more than their peers in metros for movie tickets, books/DVDs/music and airline/train tickets but respondents in metros are more fashion conscious, shopping more for clothes and accessories.
- Career@IT: The Post-Millennial generation is far more conscious than their predecessors before. They seem to clear about what they would look for in a future job. IT remains the top career preference amongst youngsters irrespective of geography with Engineering and Medicine following. Media /Entertainment is emerging as a clear urban favourite but the biggest gainer has been banks and financial services.
- Linking in: Early use of career sites like Linkedin are more popular in business-centric metros (20.22 percent) compared with mini-metros (8.86 percent) where Linkedin is still catching on.
Post Millennials: Globally, post millennials refers broadly to the demographic cohort born from 1996 and afterwards, when the Millennial generation (1975 to 1995) or generation Y (Gen Y) ended. This is the first nationwide survey of this new demographic cohort carried out not just by TCS, but perhaps by anyone in India and as such reflects that the new generation is perhaps a more extreme version of the previous one – bring more technology savvy, focused and aware.
TCS Web 3.0 Survey Primer:
- WHAT: The TCS Web 3.0 survey conducted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) the leading IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, India’s largest IT solutions provider Tata Consultancy Services, is among the largest youth surveys of its kind in India. The survey was conducted across 14 Indian cities - Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune, with a total base of 17,478 high school students the ages of 12-18. The primary data was collected from the participants by means of a questionnaire at each of the locations.
- WHEN: TCS Web 3.0 Youth Survey was undertaken from July to December 2012 during the nationwide TCS IT Wiz program to get a pulse of the digital habits of school students from classes 8-12 to capture the changing trends of the youth across the nation with a focus on technology. The objective was to comprehend and compare the difference between school students in the major metros and mini-metros of India. The TCS Web 3.0 Youth Survey is one of the most comprehensive school level studies of this scale, in India, to capture information access trends, social networking preferences, career interests, etc.
- HOW: The surveys questionnaire comprised sections such as gadgets, social networking, information access, career interests, and media and communication preferences. Interestingly a look at the media preference and usage shows that television seems to be losing its sheen. While the advent of Internet is high, young India still reflects faith and belief on newspapers as a research tool.
The TCS GenY Survey 2012-13 (PDF, 1.82 MB) | The Post-Millennial Survey Findings (PDF, 341 KB)
Website link for the survey: www.tcs.com/GenYSurvey
About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPS, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™,recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 285,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 46 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $11.6 billion for year ended March 31, 2013 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.
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