M:Metrics Now Measuring China, The World’s Largest Mobile Market
While Nokia commands market share in emerging Chinese mobile media market, Sony Ericsson is driving content consumption.
SEATTLE, Wash February 9, 2008 — M:Metrics, the mobile media authority, today announced the first large-scale study of mobile media consumption in China, the world’s largest mobile market. According to M:Metrics’ December Benchmark Survey, mobile entertainment is popular among the Chinese, with an astonishing 34.8 percent reporting they listened to mobile music in the month, and 10 percent playing a downloaded mobile game.
Percentage of Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications | |||||||
US | FR | DE | IT | ES | UK | China | |
Watched video | 4.2% | 5.0% | 2.5% | 6.0% | 7.7% | 5.1% | 0.9% |
Listened to music | 5.7% | 12.9% | 15.0% | 13.3% | 20.0% | 18.9% | 34.8% |
Accessed news/info via browser | 12.6% | 9.2% | 5.2% | 7.6% | 7.5% | 15.5% | 6.1% |
Played downloaded game | 9.1% | 4.0% | 7.6% | 8.7% | 13.0% | 11.0% | 10.0% |
Accessed downloaded application | 4.2% | 1.3% | 2.2% | 4.0% | 2.5% | 3.3% | 2.4% |
Sent/received photos or videos | 20.5% | 24.3% | 21.7% | 31.3% | 31.7% | 29.7% | 15.2% |
Purchased ringtones | 9.7% | 4.3% | 4.2% | 4.6% | 4.6% | 3.7% | 4.4% |
Used email | 11.6% | 6.7% | 6.9% | 10.2% | 9.0% | 9.1% | 2.5% |
Accessed social networking sites | 3.6% | 1.7% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 2.4% | 3.6% | 2.2% |
Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2008. Survey of mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 30th November 2007, mobile subscribers in France, n = 12,867 Germany, n = 15,700; Italy, n = 13,107; Spain, n = 12,877; United Kingdom, n = 15,588; United States, n = 33,237, and the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu, Wuhan and Xi'an for the three-month average ending 31 December 2007 n=5,163. | |||||||
The firm also found that while Nokia has a substantial lead in terms of share of handset owners in China, at 30.9 percent, owners of Sony Ericsson handsets are a driving force in the mobile media sector. For example, Sony Ericsson device owners are 1.7 times more likely to send a photo message, and almost twice as likely to browse mobile Internet content compared with the market average.
“While 34.8 percent of total mobile subscribers listened to music on their device, nearly 60 percent of Sony Ericsson handset owners consumed mobile music in December,” said Seamus McAteer, senior analyst, M:Metrics. “Competing global handset brands such as Motorola, Nokia and Samsung also significantly outperform native brands in terms of being used to consume mobile content. These companies are well positioned in a market where operators are seeking to grow mobile content in preparation for the roll out of 3G networks.”
Percentage of Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications by OEM | ||||||
Market | Motorola | Nokia | Samsung | Sony Ericsson | LG | |
Any news or info | 6.1% | 6.0% | 6.7% | 4.9% | 11.8% | 3.0% |
Played downloaded games | 10.0% | 8.3% | 11.9% | 5.7% | 24.1% | 9.5% |
Sent/received photos or videos | 15.2% | 13.7% | 18.6% | 12.2% | 26.6% | 19.0% |
Purchased ringtone | 4.4% | 3.6% | 4.7% | 5.3% | 7.1% | 2.9% |
Listened to mobile music | 34.8% | 32.4% | 36.7% | 31.1% | 59.6% | 41.8% |
Source: M:Metrics, Inc. Survey of Chinese mobile subscribers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu, Wuhan and Xi'an for the three-month average ending December 2007. n=5,163 | ||||||
Similar to the European and US markets, 18-34 year-olds are the biggest consumers of mobile content in China, accounting for 64.6 percent of those who accessed news and information via their mobile browser. News is the most popular genre of information accessed on the mobile browser, followed by entertainment information and sports.
M:Metrics is the only firm to offer consistent monthly measures of the Chinese market, which are directly comparable to the survey results M:Metrics gathers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The firm surveyed 5,163 Chinese mobile subscribers aged 13-54 via telephone in the capitals of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu, Wuhan and Xi'an.
“China is the most important market for mobile technology in the world, and I’m proud that M:Metrics has the distinction of being the first measurement firm to offer authoritative metrics on this large, growing mobile audience,” said McAteer. “We are already seeing pent-up demand for this data among our client base, and will continue to report on this fascinating audience monthly through our MobiLens syndicated data service.”
About M:Metrics
M:Metrics is the mobile media authority. As the only research firm to measure the audience for mobile media, M:Metrics provides the most accurate metrics on actual mobile content consumption by applying trusted media measurement methodologies to the mobile market. M:Metrics’ monthly syndicated data service gives clients the critical insights and intelligence required to inform smart business strategies and the competitive benchmarks needed to evaluate the performance of competitors and partners. M:Metrics is a private, venture-funded corporation headquartered in Seattle, with offices in San Francisco and London.
About M:Metrics Data
Based on continually refreshed samples of nationally representative mobile phone consumers, M:Metrics reports summarise market size, device reach, and key demographic and mobile phone usage characteristics. The data presented here is drawn from an extensive survey questionnaire that collects specific device model and carrier subscription information from each month’s sample of mobile phone subscribers, and also drills down into specific details related to current and past usage of various mobile phone applications and content. Data collected from each sample are statistically balanced and projected to the total national population of mobile phone subscribers.
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