According to the comScore 2010 Mobile Year in Review report, mobile media adoption has continued to grow throughout the past year as consumers are increasingly turning to their mobiles for many
other uses beyond just talking or even texting. Since December 2009 the number of mobile media users has grown significantly in the U.S. as 109 million U.S. mobile subscribers accessed
mobile media in December 2010, up 7.6 percentage points versus year ago.
Driven primarily by Facebook, social networking is the fastest-growing mobile content category in the US: Nearly 58
million mobile subscribers accessed a social networking site at least monthly via mobile device as of December 2010, up 56% from the previous year, according to the report.
Fastest Growing Mobile Categories in the US (Total Audience; Dec 2010 vs Dec
2009) |
Mobile Category | % Growth 2010 (+) |
Social networking | 56% |
Classifieds | 55 |
Online Retail | 53 |
General reference | 47 |
Maps | 46 |
Shopping guides | 46 |
Restaurant information | 45 |
Weather | 45 |
Auction sites | 45 |
Personal email | 39 |
Source:
comScore MobiLens, February 2011 |
Classifieds was the second-strongest mobile content growth category, reaching nearly 17 million mobile subscribers as of
December, up 55% over the previous year, followed by online retail sites, up 53%.
Growth of Daily Users of Select Services in US (Dec 2010 vs. Dec. 2009) |
Service | % of Mobile Subscribers |
email | 38% |
News & information | 52% |
Social networking | 80% |
Source: comScore
MobiLens, February 2011 |
Facebook is a huge driver of mobile social networking up 121% over the previous year. The number of US users accessing the social
networking site via mobile reached roughly 44 million as of December,YouTube and Twitter held the second and third position in the US, growing 74% and 71%, respectively, whereas the number of users
accessing MySpace via mobile fell 20% in the US
Top Social Media
Brands (by Total Audience % Growth Dec. 2009 vs. Dec. 2010) |
Network | % Change 2010 |
Facebook | +121% |
Youtube | +74 |
Twitter | +71 |
MySpace | -20 |
Source: comScore MobiLens, February 2011 |
Globally, mobile users in Japan displayed the strongest propensity for mobile media usage across categories. More than half of Japanese mobile subscribers used their browser in December
2010 (55.4%) and accessed applications (53.3%), far surpassing the U.S. and Europe. Japanese users were also the most likely to utilize their device to take photos with nearly 63% doing so
in December. European mobile subscribers were the heaviest texters at 41.6%.
U.S. mobile users were most likely to access social networking sites or blogs on their mobile at 24.7%,
followed by Japanese users at 19.3%, and then Europeans at 18%.
Top Mobile Activities in the U.S. (by Share of Total Mobile Users; 3 mo. avg. ending Dec. 2010) |
Activity | % of Mobile Users |
Sent
text message | 68% |
Took photos | 52.4 |
Used connected Media | 46.7 |
Accessed news and information | 39.5 |
Used
browser | 36.4 |
Used application | 34.4 |
Used email | 30.5 |
Accessed weather | 25.2 |
Accessed
social network or blog | 24.7 |
Source: comScore MobiLens,
February 2011 |
Other top mobile activities across geographies included playing games, accessing search and using maps. Europeans displayed the
strongest propensity for listening to music on their mobile devices, at 25%. Europeans also displayed the strongest penetration of playing mobile games at 25.3%.
The U.S. mobile
market displayed the most mature mobile banking market reaching 11.4% of mobile users, while 16.5% of Japanese mobile users were most likely to access financial information or stock quotes.
Although in its infancy in the U.S. and European markets, mobile wallet capabilities, using mobile phones in place of debit or credit cards for in-person purchases, are beginning to come onto
the scene. In early 2011, Starbucks announced that customers in thousands of locations can pay for items with their phones via an application that can be scanned across a reader at check out.
nearly 10% of the Japanese mobile population uses this capability across a variety of transaction locations; perhaps offering a glimpse into the future potential of mobile wallet payments in the
U.S. and Europe.
Concluding, the report notes that, during the past year, technology improvements, device innovations and growing mobile media consumption have laid the foundation for the
development of a strong mobile ecosystem. The challenge for marketers and brands will be how to successfully navigate through one of the most complex and rapidly evolving mediums the world
has ever seen. The next year should be one of the most exciting in mobile history.
For more data and charts from the comScore PDF file, please visit this site.