An astonishing80 per cent of iPhone users in France, Germany and the UK browse the mobile web, according to the latest data from comScoreM:Metrics - that's in comparison to a measly 32 per cent of other smartphone users.
comScore M:Metrics states the iPhone is already among the top phones used for mobile browsing, observing: "3G capability will drive usage even higher as the iPhone challenges its competitors."
It gets better. It appears iPhone has increased mobile internet consumption by a factor of 13 times in the case of a category such as social networking sites. The study also found that 42 per cent of iPhone users visited a social networking site on their device in May compared to the market average of 3 per cent and 10 per cent of smartphone owners.
Email too, with nearly 70 per cent of iPhone users sending and receiving email, that's in comparison to just 26 per cent of other smartphone users and a tiny 7.6 per cent of most mobile phone users.
The iPhone also led the way on smartphone music usage, with 70 per cent using the iPhone as an iPod against just 32.5 per cent of rival smartphone using their device to listen to music. Twice as many iPhone users watched mobile TV and movies on their phones.
“Our data confirm that the iPhone and its requisite data plan have succeeded in drawing consumers to the mobile web,” said Paul Goode, senior analyst, comScore M:Metrics.
“Even without 3G networking, users are happy to browse and consume as much content as they can, and as soon as the data speeds improve, these figures will likely continue to increase.”
Apple seems set to take an even longer march on the competition with the 3G features of the iPhone, where the UK has 3G penetration at 26 per cent, Germany at 23 per cent and France at 17 perc ent.
The researchers also found that while smartphones are adopted by a higher proportion of men than mobile phones overall, iPhones have an even stronger skew to men in the UK and Germany. 75 per cent of UK iPhone users are male, while men account for about 68 perc ent of smartphone users. In contrast, in France, 67 per cent of iPhone users are men compared to a higher 71 percent of smart phone users
“It is worth noting that the Nokia N95 8GB with high speed 3G and significant handset subsidies now has over twice as many users as the iPhone across the UK, Germany and France,” observed Goode. “Yet the iPhone, despite its small user-base, is already in the top 10 handsets for online browsing in the UK and in the top 5 in France and Germany. It is giving devices like Nokia’s N Series and Sony Ericsson K and W Series a definite run for their money.”
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