This document summarizes a study of internet, content, and technology consumption in Kuwait from October 2015. It provides key findings from interviews with 3,020 Kuwaitis, Arabs, and expats aged 15 and older. Some top findings include: internet penetration reached 89% of the population, TV remains the most popular media but online streaming is growing, social media penetration is 96% and time spent on social platforms averages 51 minutes daily, and smartphone ownership reached 93% with 23% making online purchases on their devices. The report analyzes trends in these and other areas like gaming, e-commerce, and website/app usage.

1. ICT LANDSCAPE
KUWAIT 2015
A STUDY OF INTERNET, CONTENT
AND TECHNOLOGY
CONSUMPTION IN KUWAIT
October 2015

2. © 2015 Ipsos. 2 © 2015 Ipsos. 2 © 2015 Ipsos. 2 © 2015 Ipsos. 2 © 2015 Ipsos. 2
AREA OF INFORMATION
ABOUT WHAT WE WILL SHARE TODAY
3,020 INTERVIEWS
FROM FEBRUARY TILL AUG
2015 (EXCLUDING
RAMADAN)
REPRESENTING 3,173 M
LOCALS, ARABS & EXPATS
WHICH ARE ABOVE 15 YEARS
OLD LIVING IN KUWAIT
FTF INTERVIEWS IN ORDER
TO RECRUIT THE SAMPLE
CONTENT: TO GATHER
CONSUMER BASED INSIGHTS
REGARDING THE ICT SECTOR
IN KUWAIT.
OTHER INFORMATION DATA:
MOBILE PANELS, DESKTOP
PANELS, DESK RESEARCH,
OTHER SYNDICATED DATA
AGE
THE MINIMUM AGE GROUP MAY BE
LOWERED, OR INCREASED, DEPENDENT
ON LOCAL PRACTICES. NO MAXIMUM
AGE LIMIT IS RECOMMENDED
HEALTH
INCAPACITATED INDIVIDUALS,
WHETHER THEY WERE RESIDENT IN
PRIVATE HOMES OR INSTITUTIONS
WERE EXCLUDED DUE TO THEIR LIKELY
NON-EXPOSURE TO THE MEDIA AND
PRACTICALITIES OF INTERVIEWING
OCCUPATION
INDIVIDUALS WORKING IN A
MARKETING OR ADVERTISING RELATED
JOB, OR RESIDING IN HOMES WHERE A
FAMILY MEMBER WORKS IN A
MARKETING OR ADVERTISING RELATED
JOB
PotenIal Sample
Exclusions

3. internet & live streaming
• internet penetration
• E-News readership
• TV streaming
• radio streaming
• online subjects of interest
• browser usage
• online streaming content of interest
• online downloads

4. 91%
89%
Internet penetration in
Kuwait have increased 2%
from last year.
The internet population has now
reached 2.9 Million users in Kuwait
2015
2014
Base: Total Population
INTERNETPENETRATION

5. an increasing number of people are getting their information and entertainment from online sources.
This doesn’t bode well for offline content.
Base: Amongst Internet Users
conventional media is going online…
NEWS
2014 2015
TV
2014 2015
23%
34%
RADIO
2014 2015
1% decrease in
consumption of
online news
11% increase in the
consumption of
online TV
12% increase in the
consumption of
online radio
ONLINEMEDIACONSUMPTION

6. BROWERUSAGE
Base: Amongst Internet Users
a whopping
84%
of Kuwait’s
internet
population uses
Google Chrome
as their main
browser…
while 32%
use Internet
Explorer as
their gateway
to the world
wide web.
Firefox on the
other hand has
just 16%
penetration.
OTHERS
7%
Safari stands at
8%,
probably
because its
locked down
by the OS

7. ONLINEVIDEOSTREAMING
Base: Amongst Internet Users
MUSIC
VIDEOS
63%
MOVIES
50%
PERSONAL
VIDEOS
38%
EDUCATIONALPROMOTIONAL /
ADVERTISEMENTS
music videos are the most streamed online content in Kuwait.
PRIVATE
PRIVATE
PRIVATE
PRIVATE
PRIVATE
42%
29%

8. electronic games
• penetration of electronic games
• profiling of electronic games by gender
• electronic games devices penetration
• electronic games devices vs. time spent
• top electronic games genres

9. PENETRATIONOFELECTRONICGAMES
Base: Total Population
43%of Kuwait’s adults play
electronic games
males
60%
females
40%
75% of who play online!
(based on electronic game players)

10. ELECTRONICGAMES–DEVICESVS.TIME
Base: Amongst Electronic Games Players
33min
device penetration vs. time spend gaming
94%
mobile phone gamers are the mid-range gamers, majority
spend an avg. daily 33 minutes playing electronic games.
47min
10%
laptop gamers are similar to desktop consuming a daily
avg. of 47 minutes playing electronic games.
48min
3%
desktop gamers are heavy gamers consuming a daily
avg. of 48 minutes playing electronic games
8%
those who use gaming consoles are the heaviest gamers
spending a daily average of 56 minutes.
29min
17%
tablet gamers are the
lightest gamers, spending
an avg. daily of 29 minutes
playing electronic games.
56min

11. e-commerce
• e-commerce habits
• buying online by type of product
• payment method used

12. 21%
12% 12%
1%
65%
E-Banking Purchasing items
or services
Paying bills online Others None
E-COMMERCEPENETRATION&HABITS
Base: Amongst Internet Users
35%of Kuwait’s adult population
has done some form of
e-commerce – based on internet
users past 6 months activity
Out of those who
purchase, 96%
have bought
something in the
past 3 months

13. social media
• social network penetration
• Social networks penetration by demographics
• top social media networks by demographics
• Profiling social media networks by demographics
• main social media networks usage by device by
nationality
• frequency of accessing social media
• YouTube consumption on social media
• following/liking consumer pages on social media
• reasons for liking/following a brand on social media

14. SOCIALMEDIAPENETRATION
Base: Amongst Internet Users
96%of the internet users in
Kuwait are using social
networks in 2015
92%of the internet users in
Kuwait are using social
networks in 2014
PENETRATION 2014 PENETRATION 2015
4.3%
growth
97% 92%
BY GENDER 2015
98%
15-24
BY AGE 2015
96%
25-34
97%
35-44
91%
45+

15. SOCIALMEDIAPENETRATIONBYTARGETS
TOTALPOPULATIONLOCALS&ARABSLOCALS
81% 33% 31% 11% 9%
Base: Amongst Social Network Users
68% 54% 51% 13% 11%
75% 69% 41% 16% 12%

16. SOCIALMEDIAPENETRATIONBYTARGETS
EXPATSALLMALESALLFEMALES
96% 11% 10% 4% 3%
Base: Amongst Social Network Users
84% 29% 28% 9% 5%
75% 42% 37% 16% 14%

17. 51min
FREQUENCYOFUSINGSOCIALMEDIA
Base: Amongst Social Network Users
average daily time spend on
social networks in 2014 was…
average daily time spend on
social networks in 2015 is…
85%
of social network users
access it daily in 2015
there is a slight increase in the average daily
time spend on social networks from 2014 to 2015
50min

18. FOLLOWINGCONSUMERBRANDSON
SOCIALMEDIA
Base: Amongst Social Network Users
NO
48%
YES
52%
a little more than half
of social media users
follow a consumer
brands page.
67%
50%
24%
4% 3%
Interesting Content To stay updated with offers &
promotions
To stay updated with new
services/products
Friends are fans of the brand Others
and majority of them
follow for interesting
content.
YES NO
Locals 55% 45%
Arabs 62% 38%
Expats 43% 57%

19. tablet devices
• tablet penetration
• tablet penetration by age & gender
• brand of tablet owned

20. TABLETPENETRATION
tablet are slowly gaining a
strong foothold in the market.
26%

21. TABLETPENETRATIONBYAGE&GENDER
37%
24% 24% 23%
15-24 25-34 35-44 45+
the age group ranging from 15-34 years old contributes
to around 60% of the tablet owners in Kuwait.
Male
23%
Female
31%

22. mobile/smartphones
• mobile penetration
• Mobile consumption by ISP
• Mobile years of subscription & claimed average
monthly billing
• smartphone penetration
• smartphones penetration by demographics
• mobile operating systems 2014 vs. 2015
• activities while using smartphone
• mobile Internet access
• mobile applications penetration 2014 vs. 2015
• mobile chatting platforms
• mobile shopping

23. Kuwait enjoys 100%mobile penetration (not considering multiple devices)
MOBILEPENETRATION
Base: Amongst Total Population

24. SMARTPHONEPENETRATION
Base: Amongst Total Population
2014 2015mobile owners (100%)
Smartphone owners
86% 93%

25. 55%
37%
8%
Android IOS Others / Do not know
MOBILEOPERATINGSYSTEMS–2014VS.2015
Base: Amongst Mobile Phone Users (Main Phone)
51%47%
3%
20152014
Others Others

26. SMARTPHONESHOPPING
2015:
23%
2014:
22%
online purchases from
smartphones have
increased only by 1% in
2015 compared to 22% in
2014.
Base: Amongst Smartphone Owners who Access Internet on their Smartphones

27. top websites
(Desktop)
• news platforms
• local platforms
• Regional platforms

28. Top News websites Visited From Kuwait
5.8%5.9% 5.0% 2.5% 2.0% 1.7% 0.9%
Top Local Websites Visited From Kuwait
5.7%4.8% 1.3%1.7%3.4%9.9% 1.3%
Base: Ipsos Gemius – Latest Results

29. Base: Ipsos Gemius – Latest Results
Top Regional Websites Visited from Kuwait ….
5.7%14.9%
2.5%
7.8%
3.8%
4.2% 4.2% 4.2%
2.3%
4.2% 3.5%
2.9%
3.0%
3.0%
3.5%
1.4%
3.8%
2.4%

30. Universe: 2.9Million
Base: Tot. Pop.
Penetration for all media is against Total Population of Kuwait (Aged 15 years and above) with the exception of TV which is against Locals & Arabs
*Social Media is based on Internet Users who have an email account and *Mobile Apps is based on Smartphone Users who access internet on their device
Weekly publications – Without Classified.
MULTIMEDIAPENETRATION
Universe: 3,174,000 (Total Adult Population)
Universe: 2.7Million
Base: Internet users
with email address
Universe: 2.2Million
Base: Smartphone users
with internet access
67%
23%
27%
89%
41%
95%
100%
91%
96%
93%
73%
43%
Dailies Weeklies Monthlies Radio Cinema TV Mobile Internet Social Media* Smartphones Mobile Apps* E-Games

31. 01
TV is still the king of all media with the
highest penetration, main source of
information & most credible media
Traditional radio is the media that will
be used less in the near future, followed
by monthly magazines
Adult Internet Population reached
2.9 M user
TV live streaming has the highest
penetration compared to radio live
streaming & E-News platform reading
E-Commerce Penetration reached 35%
among internet users in Kuwait
02
03
04
05
06 Adult Social Media Population reached
2.7 M users
For the first time, the penetration of
Instagram overpassed Twitter in 2015 &
SnapChat is the fastest growing, while
Instagram is the highest on Locals
The average daily time spent per user
on social media in Kuwait is almost one
hour (51 minutes)
Adult Smart Phone Population reached
2.2 M user with internet access
Smartphone Shopping is at 23%
penetration with a very minor growth
compared to 2014
07
08
09
10
TAKE OUTS – KUWAIT MARKET – ICT SCENE 2015

32. ICT LANDSCAPE
KUWAIT 2015
THANK YOU
October 2015