Commentary

Digital Hyper-Tasking Will Push Mobile in 2013

According to comScore, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the period ending November 2012, Samsung is the top handset manufacturer overall with 26.9% market share. Google Android continued to lead among smartphone platforms, accounting for 53.7% of smartphone subscribers, while Apple secured 35%.

For the three-month average period ending in November, device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 26.9% of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 1.2%age points). Apple ranked second with 18.5% market share (up 1.4%age points), followed by LG with 17.5% share, Motorola with 10.4% and HTC with 5.9%.

Top Mobile OEMs (U.S. Mobile Subscribers, Smartphone & Non-Smartphone, Ages 13+)

 

Mobile Manufacturers

Average 3 Month Share of Mobile Subscribers

 

Aug-12

Nov-12

Point Change

Total Mobile Subscribers

100.0%

100.0%

N/A

Samsung

25.7%

26.9%

1.2

Apple

17.1%

18.5%

1.4

LG

18.2%

17.5%

-0.7

Motorola

11.2%

10.4%

-0.8

HTC

6.3%

5.9%

-0.4

Source: comScore MobiLens

Trendwatching.com, commenting on the mobile future, says that in 2013, consumers will look to their mobile devices to maximize absolutely every moment. Hectic, urban lifestyles mean that no amount of (micro) time will be too fleeting, or activity too absorbing, to cram in more content, connection, consumption or simply more fun.

Their studies find that the next 12 months will see an explosion in mobile moments: products, services and experiences that will enable mobile-loving consumers to embrace (seamless) lifestyle multi-if-not-hyper-tasking.

Without a deluge of stats, says the report, on everything from mobile use to addiction, Trendwatching offers three:

  • A survey of US adult smartphone owners found that 63% of female respondents and 73% of male respondents don’t go an hour without checking their phone (Source: Harris Interactive)
  • Cell phone users between 18 and 24 exchange an average of 109.5 messages on an average day, more than 3,200 per month (Source: Pew Research Centrr)
  • An academic study of Android users’ app-habits revealed that while users spend nearly one hour on their devices a day, the average app session lasted only just over a minute (Source: DFKI)

Returning to the comScore data,123.3 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in November, up 6% since August. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform while Apple’s share increased 0.7percentage points. RIM ranked third, followed by Microsoft and Symbian.

Top Smartphone Platforms (U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+)

 

 

Platforms

Average 3 Month Share of Smartphone Subscribers

Aug-12

Nov-12

Point Change

Total Smartphone Subscribers

100.0%

100.0%

N/A

Google

52.6%

53.7%

1.1

Apple

34.3%

35.0%

0.7

RIM

8.3%

7.3%

-1.0

Microsoft

3.6%

3.0%

-0.6

Symbian

0.7%

0.5%

-0.2

Source: comScore MobiLens

In November, 75.9% of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device. Downloaded applications were used by 54.2% of subscribers, while browsers were used by 52.1%. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased to 39.2% of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 33.7% of the mobile audience, while 28.7% listened to music on their phones.

Mobile Content Usage (U.S. Mobile Subscribers, Smartphone & Non-Smartphone, Ages 13+)

 

 

Content Usage

Average 3 Month Share of Mobile Subscribers

Aug-12

Nov-12

Point Change

Total Mobile Subscribers

100.0%

100.0%

N/A

Sent text message to another phone

75.6%

75.9%

0.3

Used downloaded apps

53.4%

54.2%

0.8

Used browser

52.0%

52.1%

0.1

Accessed social networking site or blog

38.3%

39.2%

0.9

Played Games

34.0%

33.7%

-0.3

Listened to music on mobile phone

28.3%

28.7%

0.4

Source: comScore MobiLens

For more information from comScore, please visit here.

 

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