iPhone owns mobile everything
March 23rd 2008
Web metrics firm M:Metrics reports that the iPhone is already the most-popular mobile device for accessing news and information, with 85 percent of users accessing news and information in January.
"The iPhone has certainly delivered on its hype," said Mark Donovan, senior analyst, M:Metrics. "Beyond a doubt, this device is compelling consumers to interact with the mobile Web, delivering off-the-charts usage from everything to text messaging to mobile video."
M:Metrics found that a staggering 30.9 percent of iPhone owners watched mobile TV or video, versus a 4.6 market average, and more than double the rate for all smartphone users. This figure is all-the-more astounding given the iPhone's lack of Flash support, which is the main delivery vehicle for video generically.
"This data indicates that the iPhone's widgets are and effective means to drive mobile content consumption," observed Donovan. "Two featured widgets, YouTube and Google Maps are extremely popular among iPhone users: 30.4 percent accessed YouTube and 36 percent used Google Maps. In comparison, only one percent of all mobile subscribers accessed YouTube and 2.6 percent checked out Google Maps."
Unsurprisingly, iPhone users are also much more active social networkers with 49.7 percent having accessed a social networking site in January--about 12 times the average. Of special note, 20 percent of iPhone owners accessed Facebook, one of the first Web 2.0 properties to offer an optimized iPhone UI, versus 1.5 percent of the total mobile market.
Editor's note: One very important data point in M:Metric's numbers is that once any smartphone user is given unlimited data, their data consumption shoots through the roof.
Although the iPhone's got more going for it than unlimited data, a key ingredient of their secret sauce is unlimited data.
Apple needs to execute on v2.0 + App Store + 3G and quickly...
What's your take?
