Mobile internet access increased by 36% in the US last year but is still relatively low compared to China, according to a report from Netpop.
Netpop found that although there are 18 million Americans aged 13 and above connected to the mobile web, there are 100 million connected via mobile in China.
The report uncovered several key differences between mobile web users in China and the US:
- 28% of Chinese own two or more mobile devices, compared with just 18% of Americans.
- 58% of Chinese mobile web users post web 2.0 content via their mobile devices, compared with 41% of those in the US.
- 64% of Chinese mobile web users purchased premium mobile web content in the last year, compared with 36% of US mobile web users
- Chinese mobile web users spend more than ÂĽ1.2 billion ($182.6 million) each month on premium services, compared with $64.8 million in the US.
- Chinese mobile web users spend a higher proportion of their monthly incomes on mobile data services (3.4%), compared to 1.2% in the US.
Josh Crandall, president of Netpop Research, said: “Our findings lead us to ask whether the cellular industry and government agencies need to encourage broader consumer adoption of mobile web services in the US.
“When web technology is based on open standards, freely available to anyone on the internet, market momentum and user behaviour will increasingly determine which markets are destined to lead, leaving others to follow.”
A recent report from TNS said that developed Asian markets such as Japan and Korea have stormed ahead of Europe and North America in mass uptake of mobile multimedia (see Developed Asian mobile multimedia markets storm ahead of Europe).
The number of consumers using mobile TV features in Japan and Korea has more than doubled in the last year, rising from 14% to 32%, said TNS, with similar rapid growth in Hong Kong (18% to 32%).
Contrastingly, mobile TV growth in Europe was considerably slower over the past year, rising from 6% to just 8%. While the UK is ahead of the European average, rising to 13% from 8% last year, mobile TV penetration still far lags behind developed Asia.
Elsewhere, a report from the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers found that mobile adspend was up 99.2% year on year in 2008, hitting £28.6 million (see IAB: UK mobile adspend hits £28.6m in 2008).
