today trends

Since 2004, broadband connections across Europe have grown by almost 95%, from 44 million households in 2005 to over 85 million. In fact, broadband Internet connections in Europe today outstrip those in the US, representing 83% of all Internet connections, compared to 70% in America. The explosion in broadband uptake combined with the relentless pace of technological innovation is driving a major change in consumer behaviour and is transforming our traditional media landscape. In this report, Microsoft analyses the differences in broadband penetration levels across Europe, examines the causes fuelling the growth of Internet adoption, assesses the impact of consumers’ evolving online behavior, and predicts the online trends of the future. 

Key findings of the study:

• Based on current growth trends, Microsoft projections estimate that Internet consumption will outstrip traditional TV in June 2010, averaging 14.2 hours per week against 11.5 hours for TV.
• Europeans spent on average 8.9 hours per week, or 1.5 days a month, using the web in 2008, up 27% from 2004 – more time than they did reading print media, watching movies, or playing video games. By 2010 Microsoft predicts people will spend over 2.5 days a month on the Internet.
• Internet use on PCs will drop from 95% today to only 50% over the next 5 years as other web enabled devices such as IPTV, games consoles and mobile phones become more popular.
• There is a European North/South Divide: Nordic countries have an Internet penetration rate of 76% on average, compared to 45% in southern Europe.
• In absolute numbers, Germany (55 million), the UK (42 million), and France (40 million) have the largest online populations in Europe, while Cyprus (325,000), Ireland (2.4 million) and Portugal (4.2 million) rank amongst the countries with the least number of users.
• Content (such as news websites and online video) and communication services (such as email and social networks) represent 65% of all time spent online and commerce represents a third (33%) of time spent on the web.