• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 11, 2012

According to a survey from Doremus and the Financial Times, 43% of surveyed global executives say they "use many apps" on their smartphones and tablet devices with news and weather apps among the most popular.

Representing a mix of industries and company sizes:

Among executives who own both a smartphone and a tablet device: 

• 75% use news apps loaded on their smartphone, and 87% use such apps via tablet
• 70% use weather apps via smartphone, and 73% do so via tablet
• 70% use navigation, map, and location apps via smartphone, and 68% use such apps via tablet

Most tablet owners use their devices extensively:  

• 70% of tablet owners say they "use many apps" on their tablets; among them, 80% use news apps and 70% use weather apps
• Among the 11 tablet activities listed in the survey, six are used on a regular basis: consuming news, accessing websites, searching online, managing bank accounts, downloading apps, and using apps 

Mobile apps use varies by age:

• Execs under age of 45 spend more time than those age 55+ playing games, watching videos/movies, and shopping
• Execs age 55+ are more likely than those under age 45 to use their tablets for news, general reference, and checking weather 
• Visiting websites is the only tablet activity that both age groups participate in to the same degree   

North American execs are the heaviest users of mobile apps, whereas execs in Asia use them least, the study also found.

Travel apps are far more popular via tablet device than smartphone (64% vs. 47%), as are entertainment apps (67% vs. 40%) and shopping apps (52% vs. 27%); however, that gap is somewhat narrower among users of social networking apps (56% vs. 43%).

Daniel Rothman, Director of Research in the Americas for the Financial Times, notes that “... these findings are consistent with the Financial Times’ experience... we’ve seen a sharp rise of mobile users (52% on smart phones and 49% on tablets) over the last six months...”

For additional information about the study, please visit Doremus here.