01 Feb 10

Will 2010 be the year of the mobile?

by Iain McNeill, Head of Digital Strategy & Insight

We have lost count of the numbers of times that “this is the year that mobile internet will take off” and become a mass media channel. But this year there are real signs that is may actually be starting to happen.

In October 2009 13.3 million people in the UK used the mobile internet and 17 million used a mobile app (Comscore, 2010). Flat rate service fees and the rise of the ‘must have’ smart phone have propelled mobile internet penetration at a rate faster than desktop internet usage rose ten years ago.

“Driven largely by the success of the iPhone, smartphones already account for 17.5% of handsets in the UK. When you consider that 65% of smartphone users accessed the internet in October 2009 compared with just 28% of all UK mobile subscribers, the potential for these devices to drive mobile internet use becomes clear” (Comscore, 2010).

According to Comscore the most used mobile apps were Maps, Weather, Social Networking and Search. The mobile internet is accessed on a daily basis by 3.3 million people in the UK. Interestingly, the Comscore research indicated that 41% of mobile internet users are over the age of 35, emphasising our society’s broad adoption of mobile internet services.

It’s still unlikely that mobile internet will become a mass media channel in 2010, but more than ever before it is beginning to earn its place in the media mix.