Smartphone Report on Mobile Content Use

Posted By: Ryan Monday, July 10, 2006 1:38:22 PM

M:Metrics, a mobile market analysis company, has issues a research report on a recently conducted survey of smartphone users. The firm found that while smartphone owners comprise a small percentage of the overall population of mobile phone users, large percentages of smart-phone users are consuming mobile content. Contrary to popular belief, those carrying these powerful devices are not using them exclusively for productivity applications, but are also using them to view mobile video, play mobile games and listen to mobile music in addition to using them for personal e-mail and wireless Web access.

Table 1: Smart-phone penetration and consumption
CountrySmart-phone penetrationPlayed downloaded gameWatched mobile videoUsed E-mailListened to mobile musicSent photo or video over networkAccessed news and information
France 3.4% 12.0% 15.1% 20.3% 18.7% 45.7% 39.1%
Germany 5.8% 15.5% 7.7% 18.9% 19.9% 33.7% 22.3%
United Kingdom 6.6% 23.0% 9.1% 20.9% 24.8% 47.3% 39.7%
United States 2.0% 22.3% 8.8% 50.8% 16.1% 22.8% 54.6%

Compared to the average mobile phone subscribers, smart-phone owners are avid users of mobile multimedia. In France and Germany, nearly half of smart-phone owners sent video or a photo over the network, compared with a market average of 18.6 percent in France, and 19.5 percent in Germany. Nearly a quarter of UK smart-phone owners reported listening to music on their handset, versus the average of 5.8 percent. The parallels are similar across the geographies. French smart-phone owners are a staggering 11 times more likely to listen to music on their handset compared with the market average of 1.7 percent, while their American counterparts are more than eight times more likely to do so.

Video has been particularly popular among French smart-phone owners, at 15.1 percent, versus a countrywide average of 1.8 percent. There is also a relatively high conversion rate to video among U.S. smart-phone owners, who are more than six times more likely to watch video than a random subscriber, as the U.S. average for video consumption is 1.3 percent.

"Whereas mass-market Symbian devices have flooded the European market, the smart-phones in the hands of most U.S. consumers are high-end devices produced by Palm and RIM that are targeted to appeal to mobile professionals concerned with personal productivity," said Seamus McAteer, senior analyst and chief product architect, M:Metrics. "The Motorola Q, which is being marketed heavily as a stylish device that's fun as well as productive, and is being offered at consumer-friendly price points, could help broaden the market for smart-phones and spur content consumption."

At two percent penetration, the U.S. lags Western Europe in Smart-phone ownership. Britain tops France and Germany, at 6.6 percent market adoption. All the top three devices in France, Germany and the United Kingdom are Nokia devices. The Palm Treo is the smart device of choice for Americans, followed by the BlackBerry.

Table 2: Most Popular Smart-phones Used as Primary Handset
Top 3 Smart-phones - FranceSubscribers
Nokia 6680374,477
Nokia 6630287,723
Nokia 660098,122
Top 3 Smart-phones - GermanySubscribers
Nokia 6630278,818
Nokia 6600250,682
Nokia 7650237,449
Top 3 Smart-phones - UKSubscribers
Nokia N70471,874
Nokia 6680433,405
Nokia 6630341,718
Top 3 Smart-phones - USSubscribers
Palm Treo 650CDMA573,660
Palm Treo 650GSM269,053
RIM BlackBerry 7520267,912

"Without a doubt, Symbian devices compel their owners to use mobile content. Varying by networks in the UK, 45 to 70 percent of N-70 users report that they used their phone to download or browse for content," said Paul Goode, vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics. "We're seeing impressive conversion rates across all forms of mobile content among users of these handsets, and see a direct correlation between device attributes (screen size, screen resolution and network speed) and propensity to consume content."

Source: M:Metrics Report

Article Comments

 (2 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Start a new Comment Down

Interesting but lacking

SeldomVisitor @ 7/10/2006 9:25:38 PM # Q
What are the age group spreads of this "survey" (as sample population is oh-so-important, no?)?

What happened to nonUSA nonEurope?

Reply to this comment

Skeptical about these numbers

sbono13 @ 7/13/2006 10:32:19 AM # Q
Where did they get the subscriber numbers in Table 2? They don't look right to me. Only 800,000 Treo 650s actively used in the US? Palm has sold over 2 million treo 650s, predominantly in the US. Most widely used BB has only 230,000 users? When RIMM currently boasts over 5 million active (paying) subscribers? That would require that there are at least 25 BB models in heavy use, all being used by just slightly under 230,000 people.

Reply to this comment
Start a New Comment Thread Top

Account

Register Register | Login Log in
user:
pass: