Young, Up-Market Consumers Will Drive Mobile Internet, Says TNS
The high interest of under 25s and up scale consumers will drive demand for 3G mobile services, much as these groups drove the growth of the overall mobile phone market. This is one of the findings of the Wireless and Internet Technology Adoption By Consumers Around The World report from Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS).
The survey shows that the interest of the youth segment is particularly strong in western Europe and the United States, as shown.
| High interest* in 3G applications amongst mobile users | |||
| Western Europe | Eastern Europe | USA | |
| Under 25 | 37 | 30 | 45 |
| 25 to 34 | 27 | 26 | 26 |
| 35 to 49 | 19 | 25 | 27 |
| 50 and over | 9 | 24 | 10 |
| Total | 22 | 24 | 25 |
| *High interest based on 6-point scale, where 5 or 6 were chosen | |||
| Source: Taylor Nelson Sofres, May 2002 | |||
Among consumers who are interested in a mobile internet services, specific areas of interest were found to be communication and information and financial applications of m-payments, m-banking and m-trading. There also appear to be many niche applications, such as chat rooms and forums, says TNS.
Branded content offerings are key The report says that marketers can deliver branded offerings by forming strategic alliances with businesses that provide networks, content, hardware and software. “For those marketers whose core competencies are in consumer insights, new product development and branding, the potential is huge and virtually untapped,” it claims.
Jack Myers recently claimed that the development of the cable industry provides a good model for the wireless operators (see Cable Industry Provides Content Model For Wireless, Says Myers). Cable, particularly in the US, adapted from being simply a delivery mechanism for existing TV stations to homes with poor reception, to become a content medium in its own right. With the advent of 3G systems and the accompanying wireless internet, mobile operators could well do the same if they forge appealing content partnerships.
The are currently around 1.1 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide, according to data from EMC, as shown.