Smartphones favoured over tablets and laptops for use during business meetings and by the pool, finds CNN survey on consumer electronics

Smartphones have emerged as the #1 consumer electronic gadget to be used by professionals during business and leisure situations, according to a new CNN survey into consumer electronics. The survey, which polled an international audience of consumers from 70 countries, revealed that smartphones were favoured over tablets, laptops, portable music players, eReaders, digital cameras and handheld games consoles on flights, in business meetings, by the poolside on holiday and while watching TV at home.

In the boardroom, executives are more likely to be tapping away at their smartphones (61%) than they are on more traditional business consumer electronic products such as laptop computers (60%) and tablet computers (43%).

Smartphones also outrank other consumer electronics in the race for grabbing consumer’s attention in the living room with 60% of consumers saying they use their smartphone while they are watching TV versus laptops/notebooks (41%) and tablets (38%).

When it comes to relaxing by the poolside on holiday, the smartphone (63%) is the only consumer electronic to eclipse the popularity of the digital camera (48%) and the portable music player (46%). In fact, the poolside is the #1 location respondents tend to engage with their smartphone, confirming the device is of equal appeal for business and leisure situations.

“This survey shows the undeniable versatility of the smartphone, used almost ubiquitously in any given situation; even in locations like the lounge room where entertainment screens compete simultaneously for eyeballs,” says Didier Mormesse Senior VP, Research, CNN International.

“These results have interesting implications for any brand competing for consumer attention on electronic devices at a time when multi-tasking has clearly become commonplace in situations as disparate as the boardroom and the beach”.
The survey also revealed that connectivity is now so commonplace that the risk of disconnection anxiety is high, with half of the respondents (49%) agreeing that they “feel uncomfortable if I am ever out of broadband/wifi/3G reach.” Meanwhile, one third (34%) are perfectly happy to be off-the-net, claiming that “I cherish the times when I’m out of broadband/wifi/3G reach and can’t be disturbed by calls or email.”