M:Metrics announced the first large-scale study of mobile media consumption in China, the world's largest mobile phone market. According to the M:Metrics December Benchmark Survey, mobile entertainment is popular among the Chinese, with 34.8 percent reporting they listened to mobile music in the month, and 10 percent playing a downloaded mobile game.
They 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."
Similar to the European and U.S. 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 offers 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.
They 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."
Similar to the European and U.S. 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 offers 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.