Hitwise reports that U.S. Internet users have been flocking in recent weeks to sites that allow them to take advantage of features which mobile phone marketers have been pushing, such as
text-messaging and downloadable ring-tones, logos, and games. Overall, the Hitwise Entertainment - Mobile Phones category has witnessed a relative increase of 69% in terms of total U.S. Visits during
May, and a 95% increase in terms of total Pages Viewed. Users of Mobile Phones sites are predominantly female and mature. Defying common stereotypes, the dominant gender visiting these sites is women
(52%), and the dominant age group visiting them is 35-54 year-olds (48%). Surprisingly, 25-34 year-olds only make up 21% of users. A full 38% of U.S. users' favorite Entertainment - Mobile Phones
sites are outside the U.S., a sign of the markets being more advanced in Asia and Europe, and of U.S. consumers' awareness that this is the case. The most visited sites in the category are
Jippii Club,
Cingular Extras, and
Yahoo! Mobile. Hitwise says that weekends are by
far the most popular days for Entertainment - Mobile Phones sites. Visits to such sites have spiked sharply on each of the four Saturdays in May.
