UK homes now own 7.4 web-connected devices on average

Tim Elkington

The average UK household now owns 7.4 devices that connect to the internet, with nearly 40% of UK homes buying a tablet in the last year, according to the IAB. 

The new Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study claims that the smartphones is now the most common internet-enabled device in the UK with 1.7 of these devices to be found per household.

This compares to an average of 1.3 laptops per-household, 1.2 tablets, 1.0 games console, 0.6 desktop computer and 0.5 connected TV.

The rise of internet devices drove advertisers to spend a record £7.19 billion on digital advertising in 2014, up from £6.26 billion in 2013, according to the report.

Mobile advertising grew 63% to £1.62 billion in 2014 and now accounts for 23% of all digital advertising spend – up from 16% in 2013.

“Advertisers are increasing their digital budgets to reach people as they go online through an increasing array of devices. It’s a win-win for consumers, because digital advertising pays for the wide range of free online services they increasingly rely on in their daily lives, but don’t necessarily want to pay much for,” said Tim Elkington, chief strategy officer at IAB UK.