• by David Goetzl , August 24, 2007

A forthcoming study on trends in the mobile space shows that Americans who have access on their portable phones surf the Internet an average of 12 times a month, while 64% have sent a text message. But despite gains--U.S. mobile Internet use is above average--Americans continue to lag other parts of the world.

Mobile phone users in Japan--the leading market in the area--access the Internet an average of 40 times a month, while the global average of those having sent a text is 87%, according to the global mobile marketing study by Universal McCann.

The "Anytime, Anyplace" study, to be released soon, was based on 10,000 Internet-connected mobile phone users in 21 world markets.

One area where Americans do outpace much of the world is in making calls--65% of mobile phone use is for that purpose.

The study also shows that use of multimedia services is on the upswing domestically, but remains lower than average. For example, 24% have downloaded a game to their phones compared to 31% across the globe.

One reason why use of multimedia services on phones is modest is that Americans may look to other portable devices for video watching, gaming, etc. Some 60% own at least two other mobile devices such as a portable media player or laptop.

The study shows that Americans are moving content from their PCs to other devices at higher rates, with 9% having transferred video from one to the other.