Who would have guessed that the number one use of a phone would not be to make a phone call? Certainly not Alexander Graham Bell. But the mobile age is upon us, and the phone is becoming a conduit for all forms of communications, services, and entertainment.
One of the predominant uses is text messaging–an easy, discrete and often cheaper way to chat. In fact, according to our Global Youth Panel, text messaging-not voice calling–trumps any other usage of the phone. The survey, conducted in October - December of 2007, polled men and women ages 14-29 in seven countries.
- 48% of survey respondents say that their most frequent use of their mobile is SMS/text messaging, while only 40% pick voice conversation.
- Though texting is growing popular in all regions, it’s especially prevalent in Singapore, where 54% of respondents say they use their phone for texting purposes over everything else.
SMS/Texting is most frequent mobile use in all countries surveyed:
Amsterdam 48%
Hong Kong 48%
Malaysia 44%
Singapore 54%
South Korea 44%
UK 50%
US 50%
It seems like every day there is something new you can do on your phone. Some other top uses mentioned where music (Amsterdam, Malaysia and Singapore), pictures (Hong Kong), and email (UK and US). As these applications proliferate, people around the world are spending more time using their mobiles.
- Respondents across all countries spend an average of 2.7 hours a day on the handset.
In many Asian countries, a cell phone can sometimes be someone’s only gateway to the World Wide Web. This could explain the staggering differences between mobile usage in Asia and the US/Europe.
- Participants in the US, UK and Amsterdam average 1.5 hours a day on their mobile phones, compared to Asian participants who use their phones for 3.5 hours a day!
Average time spent on mobile phone by country:
Amsterdam: 1.6 hours
Hong Kong: 2.5 hours
Malaysia: 2.0 hours
Singapore: 3.7 hours
South Korea 4.9 hours
UK: 1.1 hour
US: 1.7 hours
Click here for all previous results from our Global Youth Survey. More to come!
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