Nearly a Third Say Cloud Storage is Essential, But National Opinion is Divided

PR61171

NUREMBERG, Germany, July 30 /PRN=KYODO JBN/ --

- Latin America countries have highest numbers strongly agreeing that cloud

storage is essential to them  

- Germany, Canada and Australia not convinced  

Internationally, nearly a third of all surveyed strongly agree that cloud

storage is essential to them, with agreement peaking in Mexico, Brazil, Turkey,

China and Russia.

GfK asked Internet users in 22 countries about how strongly they agree or

disagree with the statement "it is essential for me to access or store my

photos, documents, music, and other content in 'the cloud'" (with 'the cloud'

defined as "a secure Internet location that you can access from any location or

device").

Almost a third (31 percent) indicate strong agreement (top two boxes in a

7-point scale) that the cloud is essential for them - consisting of 13 percent

who agree completely and 18 percent who are next to agreeing completely.

This compares to 18 percent who significantly disagree (bottom two boxes in a

7-point scale) that the cloud is essential for them - made up of 10 percent who

don't agree at all and 8 percent who are just short of total disagreement.

Arno Hummerston, Global Director of Digital Market Intelligence at GfK,

comments, "With a significant percentage of everyday people saying the cloud is

essential to them, there is clear market potential for technology companies

offering services that enhance the cloud experience - for example, increased

security or customizable services, such as digital photograph albums which can

easily be shared with other people."

"The growing attraction of the cloud is not so much about storage - a decent

external hard drive delivers that - but about convenience: being able to access

files from any device or location, without having to carry around an external

hard drive or USB stick. It also eliminates the risk of breaking or losing your

storage device and all the items it contains. In particular, the cloud offers a

simple way to secure the photos and videos taken with smartphones, when their

internal storage capacity becomes full or the device is not accessible - with

the bonus that you can then access your images from any of your devices.

Bearing these usage reasons in mind will help businesses tailor their offers to

resonate with the growing 'cloud market'."

30-39 year olds most dependent on the cloud

Overall, the group most dependent on the cloud is the 30-39 year olds. In this

age group, 37 percent place themselves in the top two boxes for agreeing that

the cloud is essential to them to access or store their photos, documents,

music, and other content - compared to just 12 percent in the bottom two boxes

for saying it's not essential. They are closely followed by those aged 20-29,

with 35 percent in top two boxes for agreement and 13 percent in bottom two

boxes for disagreement.

It's only when we look at the older age groups that the balance swings the

other way. For those aged 50-59, only a quarter (24 percent) strongly or

completely agree (top 2 boxes out of 7-point scale) that the cloud is essential

to them, while 29 percent disagree (bottom two boxes). And the divide for those

aged 60 or over is even clearer, with just 19 percent placing themselves in the

top two boxes, while over a third (35 percent) indicate strongly that the cloud

is not essential to them (bottom two boxes).

Latin Americans are cloud enthusiasts; Germans, Canadians and Australians yet

to be convinced  

Looking at individual countries, Mexico is the clear 'cloud leader', with

almost half (49 percent) of its online population giving top-two agreement that

the cloud is essential for them. They are followed by Brazil at 44 percent,

Turkey (43 percent), China (40 percent) and Russia (37 percent). Argentina,

which completes the Latin America countries included in the survey, also shows

high cloud dependency, with over a third (36 percent) of the population placing

themselves in the top two boxes agreeing that the cloud is essential for them.

The other end of the scale is dominated by Germany, where half (50 percent) of

the online population strongly disagree (bottom two boxes) that the cloud is

essential. They are followed by Canada (39 percent), Australia (37 percent) and

Sweden (34 percent).  

"For me, it is interesting that it is mainly countries that adopted the

Internet early on, that do not see cloud storage as essential", comments Arno

Hummerston. "Late Internet adopter markets, which tend to be more

mobile-oriented, having leap-frogged PCs, have more people who say cloud

storage is essential. The implication is that those who started off on PCs or

laptops (which have large internal storage) now have a significant mental

adjustment to make, in accepting cloud storage. But those who have mostly only

ever used mobile devices find cloud storage normal."

Infographics:

Total average:

http://www.gfk.com/PublishingImages/Press/GfK-Infographic-Cloud-storage-Total-Web.jpg

Country findings:

http://www.gfk.com/PublishingImages/Press/GfK-Infographic-Cloud-storage-Countries-Web.jpg

About the study

GfK conducted an online survey (face to face in Ukraine) with over 26,000

people aged 15 or older in 22 countries. Fieldwork was carried out in summer

2014. In the countries surveyed online, the data have been weighted to reflect

the demographic composition of the online population age 15+ in each market. In

Ukraine (face to face interviews) the study is representative of the top-tier

urban population aged 15+ excluding the lowest SES levels and was restricted to

people who used the Internet within the last 30 days. The countries included in

this press release are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China,

France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Korea,

Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and USA.

Press contact - Amanda Martin, Global PR, +44-7919-624-688, press@gfk.com

Press contact - Stefan Gerhardt, Global PR, +49-911-395-4440, press@gfk.com

SOURCE: GfK