A Quarter of U.S. Handheld Users Are Wireless
While many people probably understand that, in the future, most handhelds will be wirelessly accessing the Internet, they might surprised how many people are doing so already. According to a study by comScore Media Metrix, of the 19.1 million handheld users in the United States, 5.0 million access the Internet with their device, or 26%. This is a much higher percentage than access the Internet through their mobile phone. According to the study, 8.6% of the 67.2 million Internet users that own a mobile phone access the Internet with it.
"Although wireless Internet usage is still in its relative infancy, these data prove there already is a significant wireless Web audience,” said Peter Daboll, division president of comScore Media Metrix. “While there are more Internet users with cell phones, a much higher proportion of PDA owners report using those devices to go online. These usage rates warrant careful monitoring, both by manufacturers as they develop new devices and by publishers and marketers as they evaluate wireless strategies.”
Mobile Internet users are are doing the same things they would while they are online through their desktop PCs, which isn't surprising. What may be surprising is how many of them there are. Mobile device users make up:
- 11% of all Web-based e-mail users
- 11% of instant-message users
- 12% of all visitors to news sites
These numbers include all types of handhelds, not just Palm OS users. However, according to an IDC report, 93.2% of smartphones shipped in the U.S. in 2001 ran the Palm OS. This is the most recent time period for which data is available.
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Huh?
Second, of the 19.1M handheld (PDA) users (thankfully the old Palm Pilots and other 4-5 year old devices have finally been dropped off so Palm is going to have to dump their 26M user market share mantra) how many are PalmOS vs other? Your 93.2% smartphone PalmOS number is irrelevant to this calc. THe MediaMetrix report broke that out from the 67M Cell users and 5.8M using their phone to access the internet. Again, the 93.2% number is irrelevant here as many of these are WAP users on just about any cell phone from SprintPCS, Verizon, Voicestream, etc.
Interesting that the IM stats show that MS Messenger is the largest at 14%. Sounds like the "connected" side isn't so PalmOS biased.
RE: Excellent news
RE: Excellent news
19.1 million in the U.S. I can easily believe there are many millions more in the entire rest of the world.
RE: Excellent news
You misunderstood my point. I wasn't saying that 93% of all wireless handhelds and mobile phones run the Palm OS. The study makes a clear separation of mobile phones with Internet access and handhelds with wireless access. The 93% figure is for that latter category.
This issue is confused by what is it that makes a mobile phone or a handheld a "smartphone". Not everyone agrees on the definition.
I sincerely hope that, in their study, comScore Media Metrix made it clear they were speaking of wireless access. If not, then their results are totally invalid. If they allowed wired Internet access, then anyone who uses AvantGo qualified.
---
News Editor
RE: Excellent news
I think the higher percentage for MSN is because they have really pushed to be the main portal for Verizon and other wireless web phones. So I think it has little to due with winCE vs PalmOS. They should have broke down that 14% by phone vs pda to make any reliable conclusion.
RE: Excellent news
They probably include those BlackBerry in the
handhelds. And since all those Berries access internet
through wireless, the percentage is kind of high.
On just Palm and PPC, these numbers can't be
true, even include those SmartPhone and Treos etc.
ted
RE: Excellent news
RE: Excellent news
They did NOT say that 5 million of those PDA users access the Internet via wireless, although many in the media interpreted this press release to mean that.
RE: Excellent news
handhelds. And since all those Berries access internet
through wireless, the percentage is kind of high."
I'd disagree with you and say the numbers would rightly contain those. Except that the number of blackberrry users is not tremendous anyway so as not to have a huge effect. For example previous releases have shown a larger number of Palm VII/i705 users alone than blackberry users. And the number of Blackberries that qualify as a PDA (rightly so) is an even smaller fraction of those numbers.
Much of the RIM line DOES consist of wireless PDA's, and *should* be a constituent of these numbers.
Not quite correct
I think the way you've framed this story, and particularly your headline, does not correctly capture what the actual report said. It did not say that 26% of U.S. handheld users are wireless. What is says is (direct quote from the site):
"This analysis – which includes U.S. persons age 18+ who used the Internet from a PC in the first quarter of 2002 – determined that among the 19.1 million users owning a PDA, 5.0 million access the Internet with those devices."
So 1/4 access the Internet with their handhelds. I think that clearly can include AvantGo, Vindigo, syncing mail, iSilo, plucker, etc. The report does NOT say that all these people are using their handhelds to WIRELESSLY access the internet, only that they are USING them to access the internet.
That's a pretty big distinction, especially given most PIC readers' assumptions about what wireless Internet access means.
RE: Not quite correct
Sorry, I'm not particularly picking on this one person; this happens fairly often here. I'm hoping that by pointing it out we can reduce the number of redundant comments.
---
News Editor
RE: Excellent news
> prove there already is a significant wireless Web audience,” said Peter
> Daboll, division president of comScore Media Metrix.
So if this study isn't about wireless access, why does the man in charge keep talking about wireless access? If half the people he's talking about aren't wireless, then what he says here makes no sense. Is the study messed up or just comScore Media Metrix's report on it?
RE: Not quite correct
Actually, I had read this thread. The point of this thread was to debate what "wireless Internet access means." It seemed to me that this debate was engendered by your headline which says that a quarter of U.S. handheld users are wireless.
My point was different. My point was that this is not actually what the article which you were reporting on said. The article said that 26% of of PDA users use their PDAs to access the Internet. It did NOT say that the access was through wireless. Thus, my point was that all this debate as to whether the report was really accurate - were 25% of PDA users really using wireless? - was erroneous, because the comments were debating something that the report did not say, but which only your headline said.
My point, frankly, was that you report, and especially your headline, was a misleading summary of the orignial report.
Gay Sites Most Likely to Attract Wireless
Wow, that was a huge surpise. No bashing here, just would have never thought that.
RE: Gay Sites Most Likely to Attract Wireless
but maybe its because a palm wouldnt have temporary internet files?
sounds paranoid, but being in the closet can do that.
also, studies have long proven that gay men have a great deal of disposable income, or at least they did in the mid-late 90's...
and since wireless is expensive, it would make sense that a wealthier group would have higher numbers with it.
NOTE: the study im referencing compared gay men to lesbians, gay men to straight men without families, and lesbians to straight women without families.
While straight men make slightly more than gay men, gay male couples without children have more disposable income because two men have a higher combined salary.
11% for news sites ?
At http://www.palmopensource.com I get only 0.0000001% of wireless users !
Cheers,
Ludo.
RE: 11% for news sites ?
-Ryan
webmaster@palminfocenter.com
Small correction Ed
"According to the study, 8.6% of the 67.2 million adult U.S. mobile phone users can access the Internet."
The study actually says:
"Among the 67.2 million *ONLINE* users that own a cell phone, 5.8 million access the Internet with those devices."
[*emphasis mine]
That's an important distiction, because you make it sound as though there are only 67.2 million US mobile phone users.
In fact Reuters, in an unreleated article on wireless number portability this week quotes In-Stat/MDR putting the figure at 125.5 million in 2001, with an estimated 143.1 million in 2002.
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=technologynews&StoryID=1378980
-Craig Bowers
Well bugger me with a barge poll!
More seriously, as with always stats, I'd like to see the questions asked and the make-up of the group questioned. For example, you ask 100 PIC regulars if they're using their PDA wirelessly, you'd get a really high figure. In fact you could probably get 10% saying "yes, I've used my PDA and phone to record things on my TiVo while I was out of the house" :)
Stats can prove anything... even the truth!
---
russ@russb.fsnet.co.uk
RE: Well bugger me with a barge poll!
U try spellin stuff when u is drunk and when you write when it aint underlined in red if it dont spell wright!
RE: Well bugger me with a barge poll!
Yeah right higher PERCENTAGE
it might look good on paper, but in real life that doesn't mean anything.
without reading the article...
ok jokes over. move on now.
Can't Believe The Numbers
There aren't 5 million wireless units in the hands of consumers to make that happen.
The other figure that makes me question the validity of the numbers is the gay/lesbian finding. It seems like the study is skewed by a pocket of users -- like a little mold in a box of Oranges spoils the whole box. Given that I've never stumbled across a gay/lesbian PQA (haven't looked though) in all the years I've used wireless Palms.
Mike Lohsl
Palm & ACT! Advisor
[I]Proud user of a Palm i705 Mobile Office and Kyocera 6035 phone[/I]
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Excellent news
However, that aside, it's great to see that mobile devices are so popular in terms of internet access. E-mail access must be the driving force behind PalmOS connectivity.
OB
Any device can have one more useful feature added.
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