MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA:The mobile phone is becoming a substitute for camera, a survey revealed.

Except in Japan, the camera application on mobile phones is the most frequently used on a weekly basis after voice and text, Ovum, the research firm, which conducted the survey, said.

The survey covered 12 markets with focus on Asia-Pacific market with comparison on results from the US and Europe.

In Japan, the second most frequently used application on the phone was mobile email, with 77 per cent of respondents using it on a weekly basis.

Email is used instead of SMS in Japan, the survey said.

In all other markets in the APAC region, the number of users using email on a weekly basis was far lower: 22 per cent in China, 14 per cent in Singapore, 11 per cent in the US and less than 10 per cent in all other markets.

"However, we would expect this to grow significantly as more and more people want to access their emails while on the move. Out of all the main content categories, music, games and mobile TV/video were the most widely used on a weekly basis," Michele Mackenzie, Ovum's London-based principal analyst, said.

Users in China, Singapore and to a lesser extent Korea, all frequently use their phones to listen to music and play games. In China it is less likely that the mobile phone is becoming a substitute for the MP3 player and is the sole portable player for the user, but in Singapore it is more likely that there is a substitution effect.

"This is likely due to the high proportion of high-end mobile devices in the Singapore market," Ovum explained.

The survey was conducted online and hence it is assumed that in some markets respondents were early adopters of new technologies.

In Europe and the US, the number of respondents using their phones to listen to music and play games is significantly lower than in Asia. However, over 10 per cent are doing this and even 20 per cent in some markets.

The application that is least used in many markets is video/TV. Ovum said this is disappointing, as significant amounts have been invested to develop these services.

Going forward, the Ovum survey predicted that more people would be accessing the Internet on their mobile phones.

The respondents singled out expense as the deterrent to using other services available on the mobile phone.