ComScore’s new data concerning key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry for the three month period from May through July 2012, offers interesting insights on the advancing mobile and smartphone market. What do these numbers mean for your mobile marketing strategy?
Smartphone users will reach 50% of all U.S. Mobile users by years end
Out of the 234 million Americans age 13 and older that used mobile devices, 114 million of them owned smartphones during this three month period, up 7% since April. Smartphone owners, which now account for 48% of all mobile phone owners, are a growing target market that needs to be considered in order to implement an effective mobile marketing scheme. In fact, 4 in every 5 smartphone users – 85.9 million in total – accessed retail content on their device in July alone, comScore reports.
Google Android maintains control of market over growing Apple iOS
Google Android continued to lead among smartphone platforms, accounting for 52.2% of smartphone subscribers, while Apple posted a growth of 1.4% to raise their market share to 33.4%. Further behind these two as the third smartphone platform is RIM, which posted a loss of 2.1%, as their share didn’t reach double digits.
Smartphone ownership encourages web browsing
Browser usage of all mobile phone subscribers has now reached 51.2% of the entire share of mobile subscribers. This is up 2.2% since April, and over 11% since July of 2011. We expect that this number will continue to grow at a rapid pace, as the smartphone becomes the most desirable product among mobile subscribers.
These trends show just how important it is for marketers to implement a seamless mobile marketing strategy. The companies that can best understand consumer mobile shopping habits, while also implementing a clear design, will develop a strategy better positioned to capitalize on these evolving market dynamics.