While there is increasing use of handheld mobile devices throughout
the United States, higher-end applications remain vastly under-used by
the country's consumers, according to an Accenture survey.
The survey found that:
- 88 percent of U.S. consumers said they never use
their mobile phones or other mobile devices to watch videos. - 84 percent
said they never use their mobile phones or mobile devices to send email. - 79 percent said they never employ them to play "games
on the go".
Another new study by AppTrigger also showed low use of high-end cell phone features.
"These survey results point to important
missed business opportunities in the mobile handset and social
networking arenas," said Kumu Puri, a senior
executive with Accenture's Electronics & High
Tech practice. "Clearly, many consumers are
not widely embracing higher end cell phone applications. And the vast
majority of older Americans, in particular, are not inspired by the
social networking phenomenon.
Methodology
Internet-based market research company Survey.com, on behalf of
Accenture, queried 5,047 U.S. adults in December 2007 to identify the
types of consumer electronics that respondents own; how respondents use
the devices; and to better understand the technology lifestyles of
respondents. More than a dozen devices were covered in the survey,
including computers, mobile phones, HDTVs and DVD players. All
respondents were at least 18 years of age, and 95 percent have at least
a high school education. The data were weighted to make the age groups
and genders match the most updated U.S. Census.