Non-voice smartphone usage up significantly

NEW YORK, USA: Mobile Market View, a consumer study of adult U.S. mobile phone users conducted by BIA/Kelsey with research partner ConStat, reveals a rapid rise in mobile device usage for non-voice communications – text messages, e-mail and Internet access – driven primarily by the proliferation of smartphones.

Among mobile consumers surveyed in October, 18.5 percent searched the Internet for products or services in their local area, up from 15.6 percent in 2008. Almost 17 percent connected with a social network such as MySpace or Facebook, up from 9.6 percent in 2008.

Additional results from the study show a growing class of "heavy users" of non-voice services. For example, the percentage of users making more than 10 mobile Internet accesses per week continues to increase significantly, now representing over one-fifth of all mobile users. Among mobile users, 48.2 percent sent or received more than 10 text messages per week, 21 percent had more than 10 Internet accesses per week and 20 percent sent or received more than 10 e-mails per week. 

Mobile Market View also indicates use of mobile devices for commercial searches increased across the board in 2009. Of particular interest, searches for local products or services now exceed out-of-market searches by a wide margin.

In addition to consumer smartphone adoption, recent developments in the mobile marketplace – mobile-optimized Web sites, the rapid evolution and implementation of Google's Android OS, and its planned acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob – will drive mobile Internet use and advertising growth.

"Google is clearly interested in replicating its online dominance by positioning itself at the mobile OS level, and around the content that users increasingly consume on smartphones," said Michael Boland, program director, Mobile Local Media, BIA/Kelsey. "Its brand affinity among users and one-stop-shop approach for advertisers will accelerate the shift of dollars spent on mobile advertising in the coming months."