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Canadians spending less time on wireless devices: study

With more than 25 million active cell phones in Canada, you might have a tough time buying into any report suggesting mobile usage is dwindling north of the border.

But according to a study from Ipsos Reid, the amount of time Canadians spend on their tablets, smartphones and e-readers is on the decline, suggesting that the novelty may be wearing off.

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"Initially, seasonality was suspected as a cause of this reported behaviour," reports Mary Beth Barbour, senior vice-president with Ipsos Reid, in a CBC story. "However, the average duration of use has failed to return to the higher levels recorded a year earlier in spring 2011. This is beginning to suggest a potential shift in usage patterns."

During the spring of 2012, Canadians reportedly spent an average of 2.8 hours a day on their mobile devices, a slight decline from the 3.3 hour average during the spring of 2011. Ipsos Reid reports that both tablet and e-reader usage have followed suit.

The study featured two waves, each of which surveying approximately 2,000 Canadian adults using the Ipsos Opinions Online Panel.

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A third wave, conducted during the spring of 2012, found the average Canadian respondent reportedly uses his or her smartphone 222 times per month, tablet 115 times per month and e-reader as many as 38 times per month. The study's results are reportedly accurate within two percentage points.

"Decreases may be due in part to users settling in with their device and usage levels normalizing as the novelty wears off and users are in less of an exploratory phase."