There is no doubt the iPhone has had a tremendous influence on the rise of mobile internet usage here in the U.S. The success of the iPhone spurred competitors to re-engineer and quite frankly improve their mobile internet offerings. As a consequence the number of people using mobile devices to access the internet has risen drastically.
According to comScore 63 million people accessed news and information (that includes search) from their mobile devices in January 2009 and about 30% on a daily basis. Mobile internet is definitely becoming a mainstream phenomenon these days and has moved beyond the boundaries of “geekdom”. Social networking sites are also a huge target for mobile users and if you really think about it services like Twitter thrive due to the increase in mobile internet usage. I don’t think Twitter would be enjoying the success it has had in recent times were it not for mobile.
“Social networking and blogging have emerged as very popular daily uses of the mobile Web and these activities are growing at a torrid pace,” observed Donovan. “We also note that much of the growth in news and information usage is driven by the increased popularity of downloaded applications, such as those offered for the iPhone, and by text-based searches. While smartphones and high-end feature phones, like the Samsung Instinct and LG Dare comprise the Top 10 devices used for news and information access, 70 percent of those accessing mobile Internet content are using feature phones.”
In January, 22.3 million people accessed news and information via a downloaded application. Maps are the most popular downloaded application with 8.2 million users, while search was the overwhelmingly favored use for SMS-based news and information access, with 14.1 million users. Overall, 32.4 million people used SMS to access news and information in January.
Young males are the most avid users of mobile news and information, with half of 18 to 34-year-old males engaging in the activity. The mobile Internet is also quite popular among females in the 18 to 24-year-old demographic, with 40 percent accessing it at least once in January.
Interesting points to note are the increased usage of downloaded apps like the ones from the iPhone App store and the male vs female numbers.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
was about time, I hope the data rates goes down also.