M:Metrics: Will smarter phones drive mobile content consumption?

—July 10, 2006—M:Metrics, the mobile market authority, today issued the findings of its May Benchmark Survey. The firm found that while smart-phone 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

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.

 “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.”

M:Metrics applies trusted media measurement methodologies to assess the audience for mobile content and applications. As the world’s most authoritative mobile market measurement firm, M:Metrics delivers the most accurate mobile market metrics through the largest monthly survey of mobile subscribers in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France, as well as automated data collection methodologies. Below are the findings of its June Benchmark Survey.

About M:Metrics

M:Metrics is the mobile market measurement authority. As the only research firm to measure the audience for mobile media, M:Metrics provides the most accurate metrics on actual mobile content consumption by applying trusted media measurement methodologies to the mobile market. M:Metrics’ monthly syndicated data service gives clients the critical insights and intelligence required to inform smart business strategies and the competitive benchmarks needed to evaluate the performance of competitors and partners. M:Metrics is a private, venture-funded corporation headquartered in Seattle, with offices in San Francisco and London.

About M:Metrics Data

Based on continually refreshed samples of nationally representative mobile phone consumers, M:Metrics reports summarise market size, device reach, and key demographic and mobile phone usage characteristics.

The data presented here is drawn from an extensive survey questionnaire that collects specific device model and carrier subscription information from each month’s sample of mobile phone subscribers, and also drills down into specific details related to current and past usage of various mobile phone applications and content. Data collected from each sample are statistically balanced and projected to the total national population of mobile phone subscribers.

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