Motorola RAZR and Sanyo SCP-8200 users are big on mobile content, according to a new survey from M:Metrics.
Why are the owners of these phones so keen on mobile applications and downloading mobile content? In a November study, M:Metrics' chief product architect and senior analyst Seamus McAteer posits some reasons: "The Sanyo SCP-8200 has the highest conversion rate in the industry thanks to Sprint's clean implementation of browser-based services, and the RAZR's large, bright LCD promotes use of browser-based services and game downloading. Furthermore, given the cache of the RAZR as a stylish handset, RAZR owners are more likely to accentuate the statement they make with their handset with the latest tones."
But it seems logical as well that those who are willing to shell out extra money for fancy mobile phones have the means and the interest in using those phones for advanced wireless features from ringtone downloads to obtaining news through mobile Internet connections.
The Motorola RAZR is not the only phone from the company to see extensive mobile content access from its users. The four most popular phone among mobile data users are all made by Motorola, according the M:Metrics. The Motorola RAZR has the second highest rate of conversion to use of mobile data services. It is beaten only by Sanyo's SCP-8200; 50% of the users of this phone convert to using data as well as voice functions on their phone.
Motorola has a commanding place in the US mobile phone market in general. Data from NPD Group indicate that with a 30% share of sales in the third quarter of 2005, Motorola accounted for twice as many sales as LG or Nokia. Although the Nokia 6010 was the second best selling handset in the US during Q3 2005, just 15.4% of its users accessed mobile content. As M:Metrics notes, this phone is marketed to prepaid and lower-spending consumers, groups that make much less of mobile Internet content.
Text messaging remains the most popular mobile data activity by far. Although ringtones and mobile gaming get a lot of attention from providers and the press, more users simply use their phones to get news or information through a wireless browser than either of those activities (in fact, only 3.1% of users downloaded games according to M:Metrics, compared to 10.2% who sought news).
For more information on how mobile phone users are accessing the advanced capabilities of their phones, read eMarketer's Mobile Entertainment: The Rise of the Very Small Screen report.
