Symbian
News & Events home
Media Center
Press Releases
Community News
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
Events
Picture library

M:Metrics: Will Smarter Phones Drive Content Consumption?

SEATTLE —July 10, 2006—M:Metrics, the mobile market authority, today issued the findings of its May Benchmark Survey. The firm found that while smart-phone owners comprise a small percentage of the overall population of mobile phone users, large percentages of smart-phone users are consuming mobile content.  Contrary to popular belief, those carrying these powerful devices are not using them exclusively for productivity applications, but are also using them to view mobile video, play mobile games and listen to mobile music in addition to using them for personal e-mail and wireless Web access.

Compared to the average mobile phone subscribers, smart-phone owners are avid users of mobile multimedia. In France and Germany, nearly half of smart-phone owners sent video or a photo over the network, compared with a market average of 18.6 percent in France, and 19.5 percent in Germany. Nearly a quarter of UK smart-phone owners reported listening to music on their handset, versus the average of 5.8 percent. The parallels are similar across the geographies. French smart-phone owners are a staggering 11 times more likely to listen to music on their handset compared with the market average of 1.7 percent, while their American counterparts are more than eight times more likely to do so.

-more-
2-2-2-2-2

Video has been particularly popular among French smart-phone owners, at 15.1 percent, versus a countrywide average of 1.8 percent. There is also a relatively high conversion rate to video among U.S. smart-phone owners, who are more than six times more likely to watch video than a random subscriber, as the U.S. average for video consumption is 1.3 percent.

M:Metrics
“Whereas mass-market Symbian devices have flooded the European market, the smart-phones in the hands of most U.S. consumers are high-end devices produced by Palm and RIM that are targeted  to appeal to mobile professionals concerned with personal productivity,” said Seamus McAteer, senior analyst and chief product architect, M:Metrics. “The Motorola Q, which is being marketed heavily as a stylish device that’s fun as well as productive, and is being offered at consumer-friendly price points, could help broaden the market for smart-phones and spur content consumption.”

At two percent penetration, the U.S. lags Western Europe in Smart-phone ownership. Britain tops France and Germany, at 6.6 percent market adoption. All the top three devices in France, Germany and the United Kingdom are Nokia devices. The Palm Treo is the smart device of choice for Americans, followed by the BlackBerry.

Table 2: Most Popular Smart-phones Used as Primary Handset


Top 3 Smart-phones - France

Subscribers

Nokia 6680

374,477

Nokia 6630

287,723

Nokia 6600

98,122

Top 3 Smart-phones - Germany

Subscribers

Nokia 6630

278,818

Nokia 6600

250,682

Nokia 7650

237,449

Top 3 Smart-phones – UK

Subscribers

Nokia N70

471,874

Nokia 6680

433,405

Nokia 6630

341,718

Top 3 Smart-phones – US

Subscribers

Palm Treo 650CDMA

573,660

Palm Treo 650GSM

269,053

RIM BlackBerry 7520

267,912

Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2006. Survey of mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31 May, 2006, n= 12,631 French, n=15,122 German, n=14,913 UK, n=33,952 U.S. mobile subscribers.

-more-
3-3-3-3-3

M:Metrics
“Without a doubt, Symbian devices compel their owners to use mobile content. Varying by networks in the UK, 45 to 70 percent of N-70 users report that they used their phone to download or browse for content,” said Paul Goode, vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics. “We’re seeing impressive conversion rates across all forms of mobile content among users of these handsets, and see a direct correlation between device attributes (screen size, screen resolution and network speed) and propensity to consume content.”

M:Metrics applies trusted media measurement methodologies to assess the audience for mobile content and applications. As the world’s most authoritative mobile market measurement firm, M:Metrics delivers the most accurate mobile market metrics through the largest monthly survey of mobile subscribers in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France, as well as automated data collection methodologies. Below are the findings of its May Benchmark Survey.
 

French Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
M:Metrics Benchmark Survey: May 2006

ActivitySubscribers (000s)Percent% Change

Sent Text Message29,35569.1%0.7%

Used Photo Messaging7,91918.6%8.1%

Browsed News and Information3,3197.8%7.6%

Purchased Ringtone2,7486.5%(-3.4%)

Used Personal E-Mail2,5486.0%11.6%

Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver1,3133.1%(-0.6%)

Used Mobile Instant Messenger1,2412.9%7.9%

Used Work E-Mail8572.0%9.7%

Downloaded Mobile Game5001.2%13.9%

Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2006. Survey of French mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31 May, 2006, n= 12,631

 

German Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
M:Metrics Benchmark Survey: May 2006

ActivitySubscribers (000s)Percent% Change

Sent Text Message35,60680.0%2.6%

Used Photo Messaging8,69619.5%4.0%

Purchased Ringtone3,0076.8%(-0.2%)

Used Personal E-Mail2,7166.1%0.4%

Browsed News and Information1,7634.0%(-3.5%)

Used Mobile Instant Messenger1,5473.5%(-0.9%)

Used Work E-Mail1,3993.1%3.8%

Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver1,2892.9%0.2%

Downloaded Mobile Game1,0792.4%1.6%

Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2006. Survey of German mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31 May, 2006, n= 15,122

 -more-
4-4-4-4-4

U.K. Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
M:Metrics Benchmark Survey: May 2006

ActivitySubscribers (000s)Percent% Change

Sent Text Message36,35984.6%(-0.1%)

Used Photo Messaging12,87930.0%1.6%

Browsed News and Information6,37614.8%(-1.1%)

Used Personal E-Mail2,8926.7%0.0%

Purchased Ringtone2,5626.0%(-6.6%)

Downloaded Mobile Game1,9534.5%(-4.9%)

Used Mobile Instant Messenger1,7544.1%1.4%

Used Work E-Mail1,3373.1%3.9%

Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver9942.3%(-2.4%)

Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2006. Survey of U.K. mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31 May, 2006, n= 14,913

 

U.S. Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
M:Metrics Benchmark Survey: May 2006

ActivitySubscribers (000s)Percent% Change

Sent Text Message69,04836.3%5.9%

Used Photo Messaging22,64411.9%8.0%

Browsed News and Information19,03810.0%5.4%

Purchased Ringtone18,8309.9%4.0%

Used Personal E-Mail13,8237.3%7.2%

Used Mobile Instant Messenger12,2216.4%4.6%

Used Work E-Mail7,9844.2%8.4%

Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver6,6093.5%(-1.8%)

Downloaded Mobile Game4,8402.5%8.5%

Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2006. Survey of U.S. mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31 May, 2006, n= 33,952

About M:Metrics

M:Metrics is the mobile market measurement authority. As the only research firm to measure the audience for mobile media, M:Metrics provides the most accurate metrics on actual mobile content consumption by applying trusted media measurement methodologies to the mobile market. M:Metrics’ monthly syndicated data service gives clients the critical insights and intelligence required to inform smart business strategies and the competitive benchmarks needed to evaluate the performance of competitors and partners. M:Metrics is a private, venture-funded corporation headquartered in Seattle, with offices in San Francisco and London.

About M:Metrics Data

Based on continually refreshed samples of nationally representative mobile phone consumers, M:Metrics reports summarise market size, device reach, and key demographic and mobile phone usage characteristics.

-more-
5-5-5-5-5

The data presented here is drawn from an extensive survey questionnaire that collects specific device model and carrier subscription information from each month’s sample of mobile phone subscribers, and also drills down into specific details related to current and past usage of various mobile phone applications and content. Data collected from each sample are statistically balanced and projected to the total national population of mobile phone subscribers.

Authorized Uses
Members of the press may cite research data or a portion of text provided that each is sourced to M:Metrics, for example, "Source: M:Metrics, Inc." or “According to M:Metrics, . . .”. Copies of graphs, data tables or slides must include the following copyright notice affixed to all material: "Copyright © 2006, M:Metrics, Inc.”

Media Enquiries

Gary Marshall
UK
CompanyCare Communications
+44 (0)118 939 5900
Garym@companycare.com
Jaimee Minney
US
M:Metrics
+1 206.388.5854
jminney@mmetrics.com

Recent news

Strong support for Symbian Foundation

Symbian Foundation draws industry support from device manufacturers, software and service providers

Nokia N96 launched

Symbian welcomes the announcement of the Nokia N96 based on Symbian OS

Symbian reports H1 and Q2 2008 results

Symbian Limited today released its unaudited financial and operational figures for H1 and Q2 2008

Terms of use | Privacy policy | Sitemap | Media Center | Contact us | © 2008 Symbian