Nielsen Wire » mobile phone trends

Brits Increasingly Wise to Smartphones as 10 Million+ Browse the Mobile Web

Nielsen Wire — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:42:01 +0000

The British have taken to smartphones like the iPhone and Blackberry with gusto, according to new research from The Nielsen Company. The number of people in the UK using smartphones increased 10 percent between the second and third quarters of this year, from 5.6 million to 6.2 million. While this growth is solid, smartphone share of the overall UK mobile market grew from 14 to 15 percent, indicating that significant growth opportunities remain in this segment.

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.”

Fastest-growing UK mobile phone media activities, Q2 2009 – Q3 2009
Rank	Media Activity	Q3 (millions)	Q2 (millions)	Q3 % of UK Mobile Owners
1	Internet	10.4	8.8	21%
2	Downloading apps	4.1	3.1	8%
3	Email	5.8	5.1	12%
4	Text alerts	4.3	3.5	9%
5	Text messaging/SMS	37.6	36.9	78%
6	Video	1.8	1.3	4%
7	Location-based services	3.3	2.9	7%
8	Instant messaging	3.4	3.0	7%
9	Picture messaging	10.8	10.4	22%
10	Uploading content	2.6	2.3	5%
Source: The Nielsen Company

In U.S., SMS Text Messaging Tops Mobile Phone Calling

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:19:54 +0000

The typical U.S. mobile subscriber sends and receives more SMS text messages than telephone calls, according to research released Monday by Nielsen Mobile.

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.

Time Period	Average Number of Monthly Calls*	Average Number of Monthly Text Messages*
Qtr 1, 2006	198	65
Qtr 2, 2006	216	79
Qtr 3, 2006	221	85
Qtr 4, 2006	213	108
Qtr 1, 2007	208	129
Qtr 2, 2007	228	172
Qtr 3, 2007	226	193
Qtr 4, 2007	213	218
Qtr 1, 2008	207	288
Qtr 2, 2008	204	357
Source: The Nielsen Company (January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008)
*Note: Data includes U.S. wireless subscribers only.

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.

Age Group	Average Number of Monthly Calls*	Average Number of Monthly Text Messages*
All Subscribers	204	357
Ages 12 & Under	137	428
Ages 13-17	231	1,742
Ages 18-24	265	790
Ages 25-34	239	331
Ages 35-44	223	236
Ages 45-54	193	128
Ages 55-64	145	38
Ages 65+	99	14
Source: The Nielsen Company (January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008)
*Note: Data includes U.S. wireless subscribers only.

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.

Q1 2008 Smartphone Data Reveals Gender Gap

admin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:24:29 +0000

On Monday, Nielsen Mobile released first quarter 2008 smartphone statistics for the U.S. Among the findings:

Smartphone users are predominantly male (59%) and most are between the ages of 25 and 34 (29%) or 35 and 44 (24.5%).

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.