In China, the mobile internet reigns supreme. Seventy-three percent of Chinese mobile youth ages 15-24 reported using the mobile internet in the previous 30 days compared to 48 percent of U.S. mobile youth and 46 percent of U.K. youth. (Less than a quarter of young people in other European countries said they used the mobile internet in the previous month.)

Messaging tends to skew female in most markets, with a few notable exceptions: Indian males ages 15-24 are twice as likely as their female counterparts to use text messaging and four times more likely to use picture messaging. China and Saudi Arabia also skew male when it comes to messaging, but by a more narrow margin.

For more information on Mobile Youth Around the World, download the Nielsen report: Mobile Youth Around the World.

But when it comes to understanding the purchase behaviors of mobile youth – particularly with regard to service choices – it is important to distinguish between teens and young adults. Teenagers’ decisions are still guided by their parents, who tend to control the purse strings. Young adults, on the other hand, increasingly make their own choices, are more subject to peer influence, and have more control over their own pocket money.

These distinctions are particularly apparent when we look at how young people choose their mobile service. Like most emerging countries, Vietnam is primarily a pre-paid market. That is, unlike the United States where mobile users enter into a long-term contract with a particular wireless operator and pay on a monthly basis, Vietnamese mobile users pay in advance for their mobile service and then “top up” their minutes when these run out.

The parents of Vietnamese teenagers tend to be responsible for paying for their kids’ mobile services. They tend to spend 100,000 vnd once or twice a month and pay to top-up their kids’ phones as needed. Promotions do not seem to affect the top-up behavior of teens.

But promotions are very important to young adults ages 18-24. They will actually wait for the right promotion to top up, or top up even if they don’t need the minutes just to take advantage of a promotion. Their increased price-sensitivity is due to the fact that they are now paying for their own mobile service. They tend to spend half as much as the parents of teenagers (50,000 vnd) each time, but top up more frequently, perhaps two or three times a month.

For more information on how young people use their mobile phones, download: Mobile Youth Around the World.

The most popular smartphones are the Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry, which are caught in a statistical dead heat with 27 percent of smartphone market share in the U.S. Twenty-two percent of smartphone owners have devices with the Android operating system.

Most Desired Operating Systems (OS):
When mobile users who planned to upgrade to a smartphone in the next year were asked about their next phone, Apple’s iOS and Android were tied for “most desired” operating system.

• Among users planning to get a new smartphone, current smartphone owners showed a preference for the Apple iPhone (35 percent), while 28 percent of both smartphone and featurephone planned smartphone upgraders indicated they wanted a device with an Android operating system as their next mobile phone.
• Featurephone owners planning to get a smartphone are less likely to have made up their mind about the OS they will choose: 25 percent were “not sure” what their next desired OS might be compared to 13 percent of smartphone owners. Those over 55 were markedly less certain than younger mobile users, with 27.8 saying they weren’t sure what kind of device they wanted next, compared to 12.2 percent of those 18 to 24.
• Apple’s iPhone and devices with the Android operating system were the “most desired” among likely smartphone upgraders, with Apple showing a slight lead among those age 55+ , 18 to 24, and 25 to 34.
• Women planning to get a smartphone are more likely to want an iPhone as their next device, with slightly more males preferring Android.

Number One Reason for Getting a Phone? It’s Not Safety Anymore
Texting is currently the centerpiece of mobile teen behavior. 43 percent claim it is their primary reason for getting a cellphone, which explains why QWERTY input is the first thing they look for choosing their devices. Safety, which was the main reason for getting a phone in 2008, is now less important – it is secondary among girls and less so among boys. Keeping in touch with friends is still one of the top three factors, too.

Texting is Easier and Faster than Voice Calls
All of this texting activity has come at the expense of voice. Last year, teens texted instead of calling because it was fun. Now, 78 percent of teens recognize the functionality and convenience of SMS, considering it easier (22 percent) and faster (20 percent) than voice calls (though still fun). Voice activity has decreased 14 percent among teens, who average 646 minutes talking on the phone per month. While voice consumption rises and peaks at age 24, only adults over 55 talk less than teens. Teen females, who are more social with their phones, average about 753 minutes per month, while males use around 525 minutes.

Data and Apps are Rising Stars
The undeniable area of growth is in data usage. 94 percent of teen subscribers self-identify as advanced data users, turning to their cellphones for messaging, Internet, multimedia, gaming, and other activities like downloads. While teen usage does not reach levels of activity seen by young adults, it has increased substantially versus Q2 last year, from 14 MB to 62 MB. This fourfold increase is the largest jump among all age groups. Much of this boost is led by males, who are more gadget-savvy and consume 75 MB of data, versus 17 MB in Q2 last year. Teen females use about 53 MB of data, compared to 11 MB a year ago.

Teens are not only using more data, but they are also downloading a wider range of applications. Software downloads among teen subscribers who use apps enjoyed a solid 12 percent increase in activity versus last year, from 26 to 38 percent. This includes popular apps such as Facebook, Pandora or YouTube. Usage of the mobile web has also surpassed activity on pre-installed games, ringtone downloads and instant messaging, too. Other mobile activities like mail and text alerts have also seen significant growth.

On the streets of Guangzhou, Harbin and Shanghai, the mobile phone has become ubiquitous.  Once the domain of the elite, it now seems that just about everybody has one.  Widespread ownership of mobiles is only a fairly recent development in China, but consumers there have fully embraced the technology and in some ways are using it more robustly than their American and European counterparts.

For many people in China, the mobile Web is the only one they need. When they think of the Web, they don’t think of tethering themselves to a desktop PC and the accessories of mice, keyboards, mouse pads, printers and monitors. Not only do many homes in China not have (or need) landlines for voice communications, but also they don’t require hardwired Internet access for their fix of the Web. With mobile phones, everything they need is in the palm of their hand.

In a short amount of time, mobile consumers in China have surpassed their American counterparts when it comes to using the devices to access the Internet (38% of Chinese mobile subscribers compared to 27% of American mobile subscribers), despite less advanced networks.  Whether it’s kids in Beijing downloading games or adults in Shanghai requiring real-time information about the stock market and the ability to act on it on the go, the mobile Web is becoming an integral part of Chinese life.

To gauge where this important market stands – and where potential opportunities lie for retailers, device manufacturers, service providers and content producers – The Nielsen Company has just released its most recent Mobile Insights Report on China.  The report offers a glimpse into just how powerful the opportunity is to satisfy the needs of mobile Internet users in China.  These are just some of the highlights.

Who is Using Mobile Phones and What Are They Looking For?
Today, there are 755 million cell phone subscribers in China – more than half of the population. That makes China the world’s largest mobile device market.  That number will (of course) only rise as the populace becomes more affluent.  Nielsen found that the split between the sexes was almost equal: women comprised 49% of users while men made up 51%.  Adults aged 25-34 and 35-44 made up the largest percentage of users (23% each).

The majority of consumers (54%) used their devices for advanced data such as e-mail, gaming and music, while 36% used their phones for text/SMS and voice only (another 10% said they used their phones for calls only).

With the consolidation of the telecom market in China over the past year, three carriers now dominate the market. China Mobile is the clear leader with more than 70% market share, followed by China Unicom and China Telecom.

In terms of handset brands, Nokia dominates followed by Samsung and Motorola.   However, the real story is that the top international brands are losing share to local brands that have designed low cost phones with features that appeal to Chinese consumers, such as extra loud volume settings, funky shapes and designs and extra long battery life.  This trend has been accentuated by the government’s requirement that leading operator China Mobile deploy a 3G technology (TD-SCDMA) that is not used in other markets- forcing global device brands to make difficult choices about whether to develop devices for this new standard.

While price was the most important factor for consumers when considering buying a new device, we see increasing interest in device style and device features as well as considerable brand loyalty.

The average Chinese mobile user spent just over US$ 10 per month for their service (for context, US$500 is considered a good blue collar wage in China’s more prosperous urban areas) .  Men spent more than women, while consumers using their device primarily for business spent the most.   As youth 24-35 are the biggest data users, it is not surprising that they are the biggest spending age group as well.

How Are Chinese Using Their Mobile Phones?

Both pre- and post-paid subscribers used their devices for text messaging/SMS (87% and 80% respectively).  Games were the second most popular followed by the mobile Internet and are also more prevalent among post-paid subscribers.  Video services such as mobile TV, messaging and video calling were used by only a small percentage of users, largely due to network speed issues.  Once 3G expands, it is likely that these services will gain in popularity.

It’s perhaps not surprising that Chinese youth surf the net while on the go more than adults – they’ve grown up with the Internet.  Likewise, urban dwellers – with access to better network coverage – use their mobiles for Internet access more than their rural counterparts.

Market Opportunities
While almost 40% of Chinese phone users access the mobile Internet, they don’t use as many data intensive applications such as mobile video and content uploads.  There are a number of reasons for this: 3G launched just last year; penetration of smartphones such as the iPhone and Android is still low; the Mobile Application ecosystem remains fragmented, and social networking platforms are less developed.  However, as mobile penetration is just crossing 50%, China’s fixed phone line connections are decreasing as more users “cut the cord” and access to the Internet via computers is less prevalent than in the U.S. The demand for mobile devices and data will continue to expand, leading to many opportunities for service providers, device manufacturers, retailers and content providers.

China’s growth over the last decade has been extraordinary and shows few signs of abating any time soon.  As such, it’s only natural that Chinese consumers would wholeheartedly adopt technology and products that enable them to be productive – and stay connected – on the move.

China versus the U.S.: How usage differs
In China, the vast majority of mobile consumers (87%) use pre-paid plans.  In the U.S., less than 20% of mobile consumers use them, as most Americans prefer subscribing to post-paid plans.  Even though Chinese have less 3G network coverage and own fewer smartphones, they tend to use their mobile phones to access the Internet while on the go more than Americans (38% vs. 27%).  Chinese also texted (86% vs. 64%), and instant messaged (23% vs. 16%) more often.  Meanwhile, Americans used their mobile devices more than Chinese for e-mail (25% vs. 8%) and picture messaging (37% vs. 22%).

Because 3G development in the U.S. is widespread, Americans used bandwidth-intensive applications such as content uploads, video messaging and mobile video more than Chinese.  Americans also visited a wider variety of sites, although health/fitness, education/employment and automotive sites were more popular in China than in the U.S.

Nielsen’s Mobile Insights Report on China is based on face-to-face surveys with 4,946 consumers age 15 and up in 19 cities around China.  The interviews were conducted in March 2010.

So what are Brits doing with their smartphones?  Mobile web browsing was the fastest growing activity, with 10.4 million using that function in the third quarter, up from 8.8 million in the second quarter.  Downloading applications was the second fastest growing activity, with 1 million new users in the third quarter to 4.1 million.

“Although there have been sizable increases in the take-up of new mobile technologies such as video and location-based services, they remain niche forms of behavior,” said Edward Kershaw, Vice President of Mobile Media at Nielsen.  “The era of the handset as a truly multi-media device on a mass-market level lies somewhere on the horizon, and the key for companies to successfully harness mobile lies in a realistic understanding of what activities people on a large-scale are actually doing with their handsets now.”

During the second quarter of 2008, a typical U.S. mobile subscriber placed or received 204 phone calls each month.  In comparison, the average mobile customer sent or received 357 text messages per month — a 450% increase over the number of text messages circulated monthly during the same period in 2006.

U.S. teens (ages 13 to 17) had the highest levels of text messaging in Q2 2008, sending and receiving an average of 1,742 text messages per month.  In comparison, teens took part in an average of 231 mobile phone calls per month, during the same time period.

Nielsen tracks billing activity through an opt-in panel of more than 50,000 personally liable, postpaid U.S. mobile lines across the top four carriers, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.

Read more about text messaging trends in the U.S. in the November issue of Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The New York Times, Wired, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cellular-news.com, Gearlog, and on CNET.com.

A third of smartphone users (35.1%) have an annual household income of more than $100,000. 

More than half (52%) keep their phones for personal use, while another 23% say their company foots the bill.

View the Full Nielsen Media Alert: 6-30-08-smartphone-blast.