Close to nine in 10 (86%) US smartphone owners engage in text messaging/SMS, according to a white paper from the Mobile Marketing Association. Results from “A Brand Marketer’s Guide to the Mobile Web and Mobile Apps: Not an Either/or Proposition” indicate in total, 152.3 million Americans engaged in SMS/text messaging during Q4 2010, including 66% of all subscribers and 60% of feature phone owners.
For all seven mobile activities studied, smartphone owners engaged at rates in some cases triple or even more than quadruple that of feature phone owners and overall subscribers. For example, 77% of smartphone owners engaged in email, compared to just 14% of feature phone owners and 31% of overall subscribers (71.8 million Americans total). In the case of location-based services, the engagement rate of smartphone owners (50%) was roughly seven times that of feature phone owners (7%).
Browsers, Apps Have Equal Usage Rates
Looking at year-over-year usage rates of smartphone browsers and apps in 2010 show smartphone owners are equally willing to use both methods of mobile web access. Slightly more than one-third of smartphone owners (34.4%) used apps (except native games) in December 2010, up 32.4% from 26% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, 36.4% used a browser, up 32.7% from 25% a year earlier; demonstrating that both methods of web access are growing at the same rate as well as showing virtually identical shares of smartphone web access.
CNN Mobile Audience Prefers Browser
Looking at browser and app-based mobile access rates for CNN, Amazon.com, and The Weather Channel, the study shows significantly different preferences for each audience. In March 2011, 88% of CNN mobile visitors use a browser, while 25% used an app (multiple responses accepted), and 13% used a browser and app.
Preferences are more even among Amazon.com mobile users, as 58% used a browser, 55% used an app, and 14% used a browser or app. Weather Channel visitors preferred to use an app (62%) rather than a browser (46%), with 8% using both.
30-plus Males Prefer Many Mobile Media Activities
Different mobile media activities are preferred by different demographics. Following is a brief summary according to whether a typical user is older or younger than 30 and a male or female. No activities examined by the study came out with an average user being a female older than 30.
Female Younger than 30: Make own ringtone, social networking, purchase ringtone.
Male Younger than 30: Listen to music.
Male Older than 30: Purchase games, play games, use browser, use app, email, mobile media.
Equal Gender Split, Older than 30: Ringback, unlimited data plan.
comScore: 3 in 5 Smartphone Users Access SocNets
In the US, three of every five smartphone owners age 13 and older accessed social networking or blog destinations on their mobile devices for the three-month average period ending June 2011, according to data released by comScore in September 2011. The number of US smartphone users who ever access social networking or blog destinations on their mobiles (both browser and app) has grown 72% in the past year to reach an audience of 47.8 million visitors.
In addition, those users accessing social network or blogs almost daily meanwhile nearly doubled, growing 90% to 28.1 million smartphone users. comScore data indicates social networking is one of the most popular mobile activities in the US.
About the Data: This report includes data from studies performed by comScore and The Nielsen Company.
