79% Indian smartphone users hooked to OTT apps

Gurugram, July 18 (IANS) Seventy-nine per cent smartphone users in India are using over-the-top (OTT) apps for entertainment and as many as four out of five users have at least one OTT entertainment platform on their device, a new report said on Thursday.

Hotstar is the most-penetrated OTT entertainment app with 49 per cent of smartphone users having it installed on their devices.

The OTT platforms installed on the devices are in addition to the casual entertainment apps such as YouTube and UGC (User Generated Content) platforms like TikTok and with such as penetration, OTT entertainment apps have become the 'most-penetrated' app category for smartphone users in India after social networking, chatting and e-commerce Apps, revealed the report by market research firm techARC.

"Over the past three years, we have seen a lot of enablement both from the smartphone OEMs as well as operators' sides. This has facilitated the growth of OTT entertainment services as well as consumption.

"While 4G has undoubtedly created this category, it has been complemented by the smartphone industry that has innovated to save every micron on the screen for full-screen viewing, backed by a powerful battery and stereophonic sound," said Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst, techARC.

One of the main factors for Hotstar's growth has been its sports content, especially cricket.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video has slightly better penetration than Netflix in India. Prime Video penetration is 15 per cent as compared to 13 per cent of Netflix.

This is a result of Amazon's close relationship with some smartphone OEMs where Amazon apps like Amazon Shopping and Amazon Prime Video come pre-loaded in the device.