Smart TVs surpass personal computers in Brazil

Smart TVs are the second-most-popular device to access the Internet in Brazil, according to a survey published by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br).

Conducted by the Regional Center for Studies for the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Information and Coordination Center of Ponto BR (NIC.br), the TIC Domiciles research has been conducted since 2005 and aims to analyze the ownership, use, access, and habits of the Brazilian population in relation to information technology and communications.

According to the study, smart TV sets surpassed personal computers in 2021. After smartphones, TVs are the most used device to access the Internet — from 37% of users in 2019 to 50% last year. This increase was observed in almost all analyzed demographic strata, mainly among those aged 35 to 44 (59%), users from the North Region of Brazil (45%), and women (51%). In total, 74 million individuals accessed the Internet using their television sets, an increase of 25 million users during last year. 

The survey also revealed the prevalence of exclusive smartphone use to access the Internet (64% of users). According to the research, smartphones have been the main Internet access device in Brazil since 2015, and between 2019 and 2021 there was an increase of 6 percentage points in the exclusive use of phones to go online.

The exclusive use of smartphones to access the web is higher among Brazilians living in rural areas (83%), in the Northeast Region of the country (75%), black individuals (65%), those aged 60 years and over (80%), and the poorest segments of the population (89%). Among lower middle class users, access to the Internet exclusively via smartphones increased from 61% in 2019 to 67% in 2021, reaching 51 million people.

“Despite the demand for connectivity created by the pandemic, there has not been a large incorporation of computers in Brazilian households. Their use occurs mainly among people of the higher and more educated classes. These individuals, by the way, tend to use the Internet from multiple devices and connect both via the mobile network and WiFi, which facilitates carrying out a wider range of activities on the network. This factor has an important impact on the development of digital skills,” said Alexandre Barbosa, manager at Cetic.br.

When it comes to e-commerce, 46% of Internet users in Brazil made purchases on the Internet in 2021, against 39% in 2019. In absolute numbers, this means that 68 million people carried out this activity in 2021, almost 16 million more than before the beginning of the pandemic. Internet users living in rural regions also began shopping online in greater proportions (from 19% in 2019 to 27% in 2021).

The greatest differences in the period when it comes to online shopping habits were observed between users aged 35 to 44 years (56%, up 12 percentage points) and belonging to the lower middle class (49%, an increase of 13 percentage points), although this activity continues to be carried out in greater proportions by users from the Brazilian elite (90%).