Forty-nine percent of US mobile phone users are considering purchasing an iPhone for their next mobile phone, according to a new study from IHL Group and RetailConnections.
iPhone, Android Most Under Consideration
Data from “Going Mobile” indicates 49% of mobile phone users are considering an iPhone for their next phone. The only other mobile phone platform approaching the iPhone in popularity was Android (40%).
Blackberry followed at 22%. Only 8% of respondents are considering a Windows smartphone, meaning it has the same popularity as a standard cell phone. A tiny fraction of respondents (1%) are considering an HP/Palm-based smartphone.
Smartphones Skew Male
Smartphone ownership in the US skews male, according to study results. Eighty-five percent of male mobile phone users have a smartphone, compared to only 64% of female users. Overall, 77% of US mobile phone users have a smartphone.
Texting Most Popular Mobile Plan Feature
More than nine in 10 mobile phone owners (94%) have text included in their phone plan. This makes texting by far the most popular feature of US consumer mobile phone plans. Other popular features include email (80%) and mobile web (78%).
Video-related features are substantially less popular with US mobile phone owners, likely reflecting their newer stature. Less than half of mobile phone owners have plans that include video text (48%) or mobile video (45%).
Almost All Mobile Phone Users Have Texted
The percentage of mobile phone users who have texted in the past 12 months (97%) is even higher than the percentage who have a mobile plan including text services. The virtually universal positive response among respondents in regard to texting at least once in the last 12 months is much higher than even the second-most-popular response, email (79%).
Two other mobile features that have been used by more than half of mobile phone users in the past 12 months are GPS (66%) and investigating options for movies or dinner (63%). Less popular are text coupons (30%) and downloaded ringtones (28%). Only 14% have texted a donation to charity in the past 12 months.
Facebook Most Popular Mobile SocNet
Facebook is the most popular social network among mobile users by a substantial margin. Fifrty-two percent of mobile phone users have accessed Facebook, more than twice the percentage that have accessed the second-most-popular social network, Twitter (24%). Only small percentages have used their mobile phone to access FourSquare (5%) or MySpace (2%).
Smartphone Ownership Hits 59M
During the three month-average ending in September 2010, 58.7 million Americans owned smartphones, according to recent data from comScore. This represents a 15% increase from a little more than 51 million during the three-month average ending in June 2010. A total of 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices during the three month-average ending in September 2010.
About the Data: The data for this study were obtained by performing a web-based survey during the August-September 2010 timeframe. A total of 570 responses were used.
