All signs point towards 2018 being the year that smartphone usage will officially overtake television viewing in China.  

Small screen to smaller screen

Viewing habits are evolving amongst consumers in China as eMarketer reports that growth in online video services is driving record breaking viewership via smartphones.

According to a recent eMarketer report, the average adult in China is on course to engage 2 hours and 39 minutes via smartphone in 2018.

Viewing habits have risen as much as 11.1% since 2017 as television viewing has dropped by 2%, to 2 hours of daily viewing, for the first time ever.

Big business drives mobile

Alibaba acquired the YouTube-like service Youku Tudou for $4.6 billion, rounding out the third power trio, along with Tencent and Baidu and bolsturing content that users prefer to consumer through their own mobile device.

Baidu’s video service iQiyi has gone public in a $1.5 billion IPO, which combine consumer-generated content along with produced series – similar to the Netflix model and will only strengthen mobile viewing habits.

With payment platforms like Alibaba’s Alipay and WeChat deeply baked into mobiles for everyday transactions in China, online viewing and in-app purchases are predicted to only increase.

How much programing do you watch on your smartphone? Are you surprised by the stats? Let us know what you think in our comments below.