Mobile Internet growth to continue
29 Apr 2010
Danielle Long
SYDNEY: Mobile internet use is set for strong growth this year with almost half (43%) of Australian mobile phone users owning an internet enabled device, according to Nielsen research.
The growth in internet enabled mobiles has been driven by the popularity of the Apple iPhone, which has more than doubled its market share to 28% and gained significant ground on market leader Nokia, which has 35% share.
Further growth is predicted with the research revealing the intention to purchase an iPhone remains strong, with Apple set to triple its share to 61%.
Just under one-third of mobile phone users (29%) access the internet via a mobile phone, and of these mobile internet users 73% have conducted an internet search on their mobile, up from 30% a year ago.
Mobile internet services have seen strong growth in the past year, 59% accessed news/weather in 2009, an 18% increase on the previous year, while 58% checked email (up 20%) and 56% viewed maps /directions (up 24%).
Mobile social networking increased 25% and was used by 39% of mobile internet users, with Facebook the most popular with 98% of users, followed by Twitter (20%) and MySpace (17%).
A further 90% of internet enabled phone owners intend to visit Facebook, 18% plan to visit Twitter and 11% plan to visit MySpace.
The research forecasts continued growth in mobile internet use over the next year, with 13% of those yet to use mobile internet anticipating they will conduct a local internet search on their mobile and 11% planning to use internet banking, access maps and directions and purchase tickets.
"While the number of people accessing the internet via their mobile phones has remained fairly stable in recent years, we've seen a big shift in the levels of activity among those who are using mobile internet," said Matt Bruce, Australian managing director of Nielsen's online business.
"This is especially evident when we look at the growth of internet activities undertaken on mobiles, and there's further growth in store as more Australians look to connect to the internet via their mobiles in the year ahead."
The research is in line with Telstra's half yearly report from December, which revealed mobile data traffic on its network has doubled every eight months for the past two years and 70% of customer mobile phones are 3G enabled.