Smartphone users tend to go big in Asia... and go hard. But new research shows unique characteristics to each Asia Pacific country.

Already multi-device users are reacting to ads - although Australia and Singapore are relative exceptions - and the number of them is growing. Even though the trend is restricted to Manila, for instance, the Philippines still rates a top place (with Singapore and Australia) in the 'most devices' league table.

The statistics are fascinating and fundamental to an understanding of publishing and mobile marketing... and are included in a new Asia cross-screen user behaviour research report from technology marketing consultancy Appier.

And it will get worse: The report says the growing popularity of wearable devices such as smart watches is expected to add to the average number of devices per user, making every time of day even more relevant to advertisers reaching targets across all screens and devices.

The complexity of user behaviour is also expected to increase as innovations to key features on major devices are rolled out over the next few years. "As the number of devices per user rises, it becomes increasingly difficult to predict user behaviors and patterns across all devices, presenting a daunting challenge to marketers - how to leverage big data to fully understand and accurately predict cross-device usage and user behaviour," it says.

The continued growth and consistently high volume of mobile device usage has also made every time of day critical to acquiring customers. In order to plan and allocate budgets effectively, marketers must now be cognizant of user preference for devices while commuting, during work hours and leisure time.

User preference for screen size is also changing all the time, and varies with every new generation of device. "Only by reaching and catering to valuable users are cross-screen marketers able to consistently deliver the right content to the right person at the right time," says the report.

Appier also found that Wednesday is a big day for smartphone users - although in Taiwan and Vietnam usage also peaks on Sundays - while tablet usage rises as the weekend approaches. And of course, there are exceptions: Hong Kong and the Philippines, while tablet usage in Japan increases by 360 per cent on weekends.

Predictably perhaps, users in Asia start abandoning their PCs falls as the weekend approaches, although those in Australia are more active on Sundays.

• Timing - smartphone usage begins to climb at 4am and peaks at 9pm, and although the tablet trend is similar, usage is now less than a quarter that of smartphones;
• midsized smartphones are now the go, with Android (52 per cent) and iOS (48 per cent) head-to-head after falls in Asiaand especially Hong Kong (down 30 per cent);
• in India, more than nine out of ten users are on Android devices;
• in most Asian countries, users show more interest in retail ads on large phones and small tablets. Users in India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore interact with more retail banner ads on large phones; those in Australia interact with more retail banner ads on large tablets, while users in Taiwan and Vietnam have more interactions on small tablets.

The report says that in the first half of this year, nearly two users out of three operated at least two devices, while the percentage of cross-screen users operating three devices grew ten per cent on the last half of of 2014.

In most Asian markets, high conversion rates for online ads occurred on devices with high CTRs. User preference for banners and interstitial ads varied depending on the sizes of the screen and the device used.