Hong Kong to watch Olympics on phones or online: poll

The Ipsos Hong Kong poll found 26 percent of young adults aged between 15 and 24 would follow the Olympics on their smartphones, a "sharp rise" from 2008 when smartphones were new and only six percent preferred them to television.

Given almost half of Hong Kong's 15 to 24-year-olds own smartphones, the result is high, the pollsters said.

In the broader population, almost 30 percent of respondents said they would watch the Games online rather than on television.

"This number rises to almost half of 15 to 24-year-olds (46 percent) and a third (36 percent) of people aged 25 to 34," Ipsos said.

"In comparison, only a quarter of the population watched the Beijing Olympics online in 2008, at similar levels across all aged groups."

smc/emb