Mobile Phones Not Just Used To Communicate

Mobile phones are becoming increasingly more than just a communications device, according to a new report from Continental Research, as the number of people using their phone as a camera becomes even more popular.

Over the past 12 months, the number of adults in the UK who own a mobile phone has grown to nearly 8 in 10, with 21% of these being photo messaging enabled devices, up from only 4% in January 2003.

The growing popularity of camera phones may be attributed to the ease of sharing photos, as 63% of people surveyed said that they have sent a photo to another handset, while 11% have sent a picture as an email attachment. However, the most popular usage of a mobile camera photo is for people to store it on their own phone, with 63% survey respondents doing this.

Camera phone owners also appear to be interested in the idea of printing out pictures directly from their phone in a street kiosk, with 11% ‘almost certainly’ interested in doing this and 11% ‘very likely’.

James Myring of Continental Research said: “Should the processing of pictures taken from a mobile become more common place it will be interesting to see if people start to view their handset as both a camera and phone or if it will still be seen primarily as communications device.”

Continental Research: 020 7490 5944 www.continentalresearch.com

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