MANILA: Increased adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices has led to a doubling of internet access in the Philippines in just four years, a new report has revealed.

Internet penetration in the country nearly doubled to 52% this year from 27% in 2010, the latest Nielsen Pinoy Netizen survey discovered.

As reported by Marketing Interactive, use of mobile devices to access the internet increased to 35% in the first quarter of 2014, up from just 9% in Q4 2012, while tablet usage grew to 10% from just 1% over the same period.

Laptop usage to access the internet held steady at 41% in Q1 2014, compared with 42% in Q4 2012, but there was a steep decline in desktop usage, which almost halved to 35% from 63% in 2012.

"Filipinos are demanding fast, convenient and on-the-go access to the internet," said Stuart Jamieson, managing director of Nielsen Philippines.

"Mobile devices are effectively addressing this demand, and as a result, web users are migrating away from traditional PCs to connected devices as a means of accessing information online," he explained.

With growing use of mobile devices to access the internet, the report also found Filipinos have increased the frequency and amount of time they spend online.

Almost six-in-ten (58%) of home internet users were online each day in Q1 2014, compared with just 23% in the last quarter of 2013, and 33% spent more than two hours a day online.

Almost all (95%) of Filipino internet users visited social networking sites, the report found, while 44% played online games, 38% entered online chatrooms, 37% used email, 20% watched videos, 16% used instant messaging and 8% watched TV.

Jamieson urged marketers to be innovative in their approach, noting that "while entry points for online usage are social networking and gaming, the consumer's world is becoming borderless with vast options and activities that can be conducted online".

"Marketers need to seek out new and innovative ways to differentiate and stand out from the crowd," he said.

Data sourced from Marketing Interactive; additional content by Warc staff