April 24, 2006
According to an annual study by Ipsos Insight, using mobile devices to check e-mail and search the Web is growing. In some markets it is even growing faster than the use of laptops.
This is especially true in parts of Europe and Asia where use is much higher. The study shows that the strongest growth is in France, the U.K. and Japan.
Interestingly the demographic is changing for mobile phone users as most the growth is happening in those over the age of 35, showing that Internet mobile use is going beyond teens and young adults.
Brian Cruikshank, managing director at Ipsos, said "Accessing the Internet on a wireless handheld device is no longer a novelty for consumers in the major global economies."
While there has been some growth in the U.S. market, it is slowing down as Americans prefer laptops to mobiles as their device of choice for browsing away from computers.
Some of the other findings of the study:
* Some 52 percent of households with a mobile phone have sent or received a text message, while 37 percent have sent or received e-mail on their handsets.
* More than 90 percent of all households in South Korea, Japan and urban China own at least one mobile phone.
* In Western Europe, 80 percent of all households owned a mobile phone, while in Canada, 60 percent of households do.
* In the United States, about 3 in 4 households own a mobile phone.
