Browsing the web is the fastest growing activity on UK mobile phones
New research from The Nielsen Company has found that browsing the web was the fastest growing activity on UK mobile phones between the second and third quarters of 2009.
The number of Britons using mobile internet hit 10.4 million in Q3 2009, up from 8.8 million in Q2 2009. This means over one-fifth of people in the UK with a mobile now use their handset to browse the web.
The second fastest growing activity was downloading applications or software, with the number of Britons doing this rising to 4.1 million in Q3, an increase of just over one million from 3.1 million in Q2.
A recent survey from Synovate, which surveyed over 8,000 mobile phone owners across 11 markets, found that 31% of UK mobile users go online via their mobile phones.
| Rank | Mobile Phone Media Activity | UK Increase (millions) | UK Q3 (millions) | UK Q2 (millions) | Q3 % of UK mobile owners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Internet | 1.62 | 10.4 | 8.8 | 21% |
| 2 | Downloading applications/software | 1.02 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 8% |
| 3 | 0.77 | 5.8 | 5.1 | 12% | |
| 4 | Text alerts | 0.71 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 9% |
| 5 | Text messaging/SMS | 0.7 | 37.6 | 36.9 | 78% |
| 6 | Video | 0.5 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 4% |
| 7 | Location-based services | 0.4 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 7% |
| 8 | Instant messaging | 0.38 | 3.4 | 3 | 7% |
| 9 | Picture messaging/MMS | 0.35 | 10.8 | 10.4 | 22% |
| 10 | Uploading content | 0.3 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 5% |
Edward Kershaw, vice president of mobile media at The Nielsen Company, said: “Although there have been sizeable increases in the take-up of new mobile technologies such as video and location-based services, they remain niche forms of behaviour.
“Although the era of the handset as a truly multi-media device on a mass-market level lies somewhere on the horizon, the key for companies to successfully harness mobile lies in a realistic understanding of what media activities people on a large-scale are actually doing on their handsets now.”
The number of people in the UK using smartphones was up 10% between Q2 and Q3 2009 to 6.2 million – over 577,000 new users. However, the Nielsen figures reveal that despite this increase the smartphone share of the UK market grew by just 1% to 15% of all UK mobile phone owners.
| Rank | Smartphone Manufacturer | Q3 Number of UK Smartphone owners (000s) | Q3 % of UK Smartphone owners | Q2 % of UK Smartphone owners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nokia | 2,690 | 44% | 51% |
| 2 | RIM BlackBerry | 1,151 | 19% | 14% |
| 3 | Apple | 1,015 | 17% | 14% |
| 4 | HTC | 579 | 9% | 12% |
| 5 | Samsung | 316 | 5% | 6% |
Although Nokia remains the dominant manufacturer in this sector, with 2.7 million users, or 44% of smartphone owners, its share has been eroded by BlackBerry-maker RIM and Apple. BlackBerry’s increased their share amongst UK smartphone owners from 14% to 19%, while Apple increased its share from 14% to 17%. BlackBerry’s were the fastest-growing smartphone with almost 382,000 new UK users – 50% more than Apple’s iPhone (over 254,000 new users).
However, today could herald a sharp increase in the number of iPhone users in the UK, as the handset launches on the Orange network.
Meanwhile, a series of reports from DFC Intelligence claim that the success of the iPhone will help to drive growth in the global mobile games market, which is expected to grow to $11.7 billion by 2014.
Nielsen is one of the sponsors of MediaTel Group’s forthcoming ‘Future of Mobile’ seminar, to be held in London on Wednesday 9 December, with tickets just £99 if booked by 20 November.