iPhone Dubbed 'Most Useful' Smartphone

iPhone users are often twice as likely as other smartphone users at using the following applications, according to the comScore iPhone report: accessing news/info via browser; e-mail; listening to mobile music; accessing news/info via downloaded application; social networking; accessing weather reports; using Web search.

"Consumers are clearly embracing the iPhone's touch screen keyboard," observed Alistair Hill, analyst, comScore.

"The penetration of e-mail usage on the iPhone is more than double that of the smartphone category as a whole. Over the past several quarters, the UK smartphone market has been dominated by the N95, which lacks a QWERTY keyboard. As a result, we see smartphone users favor using their device for music and photo messaging, two activities for which these Nokia devices are particularly well-suited, more than e-mail."

ComScore data show that nearly 80 percent of UK iPhone owners accessed news and other information via a browser, four times the rate for all mobile phone users.

The App Store is also extremely popular among iPhone owners, with 55.6 percent accessing news and information via a downloaded application, compared with 22.1 per cent of smartphone owners, and 6.3 per cent of all mobile phone users.

The iPhone has also provided a boost to the mobile games sector, with 37 percent of iPhone owners downloading a game and 18.6 percent purchasing one. Only 5.6 per cent of smartphone owners and 2.7 percent of mobile phone users purchased a game in January.

comScore also revealed today the demographics of iPhone owners, and found that 75 percent are males, mostly between the ages of 18-44. Smartphone ownership also typically skews male in the UK, with males comprising 65 percent of the audience.

"The iPhone is indeed an early adopter phenomenon in the United Kingdom," said Hill.

"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."

comScore data also shows that 55 percent of mobile media consumers are male, and 65 percent are between the ages of 18-44. 23 percent of mobile media users own a smartphone; and 3.5 percent, an iPhone.