Spatial Audio driving content consumption on on-the-go devices amongst consumers in India, reveals CMR Study 2022

Immersive audio experiences have gained importance over the pandemic years for consumers on smartphones and other ‘on-the-go devices’, including tablets, and hearables. Amongst Digital Natives, essentially tech-aware users spending >20 hours online on content consumption, there has been an impressive double-digit growth of 11% in seeking premium spatial audio over the past three years. These research insights are from the third edition of an extensive annual consumer study on the ‘Importance of Audio among Smartphone Users’, commissioned by Dolby, chronicling changing consumer behaviour around content creation, consumption and engagement with on-the-go devices.

As identified in study, audio quality continues to be the top-most driver (Score 71 out of 100) influencing consumer smartphone purchases, ahead of battery (Score 67 out of 100) and camera (Score 62 out of 100). Since the inaugural CMR Survey in 2020, there has been a continuous ongoing spike amongst consumers prioritizing audio as a key smartphone purchase driver. The importance score on audio quality has increased by 8% between 2020 and 2022.

According to Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, “Driven by an array of use cases, including music, movies, live sports, and mobile gaming, premium audio experiences are increasingly sought by consumers on, not just their smartphones, but other on-the-go devices. With heightened demand for spatial audio, consumers now are increasingly seeking more depth and detail from their content experiences. These are made possible by industry-leading innovations, such as Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.”

Here are the key study highlights:

Enhanced audio quality as a critical, must-have feature on on-the-go devices

* Audio quality is the top-most purchase driver on on-the-go devices.

* Listening to music, watching movies and watching OTT are still the top three ways to consume audio/video on smartphone. Interestingly, the study shows a whopping 41% growth in WhatsApp usage for audio calls, from a mere 38% in 2020 to an overwhelming 79% in 2022.

* There has also been a significant growth in smartphone users listening to audio books, largely driven by users in the age group of 25 to 30 years.

* Wireless headphones continue to be the most preferred smartphone accessory during audio or video content consumption. The usage of smartphone accessories has increased over 2021, largely driven by consumer inclination for more voice clarity (64%) this year.

The rise of Content Creators

* Over the past three years, the duration of content creation – including videos and audio, has increased by around 10%. Smartphone users, on average, spend around 4 to 5 hours in a week creating content.

* Four in every five smartphone users have shown interest in shooting more videos with Dolby Vision enabled smartphones

Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision driving consumer engagement

* Five in every six users (84%) feel that they connect better with content when they consume it in Dolby Atmos. This has increased by 5% from 2021, owing to the multidimensional sound experienced in Dolby Atmos.

* Five in every six users (84%) feel that Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision has contributed to enhancing their mobile content consumption over the past three years.

* Top three content that consumers are willing to experience with Dolby Atmos Dolby Vision include movies, music and episodic content. In fact, movies continue to resonate with Indians, as per the study insights from over the past three years.

* Seven in every eight users believe that Dolby Atmos/Dolby Vision would contribute to their content subscription plans.