Nearly half of 10 to 18 year olds in the US own mobile phones, according to global market research group NOP World Technology.
The research also revealed that 73% of 18 year olds own mobile phones, a 15% rise on 2002. Elsewhere, 75% of 15 to 17 year olds were shown to carry mobile phones, an increase of 33% percentage points from 42% in 2002.
The study indicates that 10 to 18 year olds are fairly loyal, with 77% still using their first network provider, and only 11% planning to switch in the next month.
Among users who switched providers, 20% gave their reason as seeking ‘better reception’, 19% claimed that lower costs drove their decision, while 19% said that ‘persuasion from parents’ drove their decision.
The majority of people polled, 71%, were interested in multi-function mobile phones, wanting phones that convert to MP3 players, while 70% were interested in phones that could double as digital cameras.
A recent study by mobile market measurement company, M:Metrics, found that almost 60% of US mobile subscribers used their mobiles for non-voice functions, with text messaging being the most popular application (see Multi Use Of Mobile Handsets).
Mobile internet functions, such as mobile email and accessing the news via a web browser were only used by 14% of respondents.