comScore has come out with the results of a study about iPhone users in the UK. Compared to other mobile devices, the iPhone is kicking proverbial behind! 55% of iPhone users conduct searches on their devices, compared to only 32% of smartphone users. At least 12% of all mobile phone users search on their phones, but the iPhone comes in ahead of smartphones and other mobile phones in every major category from email to mobile music to social networking. Unfortunately, the iPhone still isn’t the mainstream mobile phone choice in the UK.
“The iPhone is indeed an early adopter phenomenon in the United Kingdom,” said Alistair Hill, an analyst from the reputable comScore. “While the device’s ease of use is certainly contributing to the lift we see in mobile media consumption, the fact that the device requires a subscription package that includes an unlimited data plan is also a contributing factor. However, it is also important to note that while nearly all iPhone owners are consuming mobile media, the device is in the hands of only two percent of mobile phone users in the UK.”
Numbers of iPhone users are expected to rise, however. The ever increasing number of applications make it the obvious choice for many consumers. Both Google and Yahoo have added recent apps and released them to more countries as well; Yahoo is releasing its Inquisitor iPhone app to 11 more countries right now:
Canada
UK
France
Germany
Italy
Netherlands
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Australia
New Zealand
The Inquisitor app is set to Yahoo’s U.S. index by default, but the options menu allows users to choose another country. Inquisitor started out as a search suggestion plug-in for Safari, a web browser developed by Apple who produces the iPhone. Since Yahoo’s acquisition of the app, Inquisitor has been extended to become a plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer as well.
Last November, Google added voice search to their iPhone mobile application, and now Blackberry users can also use the application. The updated Google Mobile App for Blackberry can be downloaded from google.com directly from your device. The voice feature is available for Blackberry devices with O/S 4.2 and higher (except the Storm). The app without voice is available for devices with O/S 4.1+. The app for Blackberry Storm is in the works and should be around the corner.
comScore has also released general study results on mobile phone internet usage showing daily usage among unique users has grown over 100% from January of 2008 to January of 2009. That’s just the number for accessing news and information, and doesn’t include the ballooning amount of social networking. With mobile Facebook and Twitter apps, the numbers are mindblowing. All the more reason for iPhone to keep adding apps!
Tags: iPhone, mobile apps, UK