Report analyses US Smartphone use

The study found that the number of Smartphone users accessing mobile content through browsers and applications now surpasses that of non-Smartphone users. In the 3-month average ending August 2010, Smartphone subscribers made up 60% of those who used a downloaded application and 55% of those who used a browser. The study also described the demographic profile and top content categories for Smartphone subscribers accessing applications and browsers.

App and browser usage by mobile device

In August, 75.6 million mobile subscribers ages 13 and older used downloaded applications, with Smartphone users representing 60.4%, up from 43.6% in August 2009. For the same period, 80.8 million mobile subscribers used their browser, with Smartphone subscribers comprising 55.5%, up from 41.4% a year ago.

"That Smartphone owners now represent the majority of the US mobile audience accessing downloaded applications and browsers represents a watershed moment in the industry," said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. "Although Smartphones still make up less than a quarter of the US mobile market, they are generating the lion's share of mobile content consumption. With Smartphones' share of the pie destined to get greater over time, marketers and content providers should begin to shift their focus towards developing with primarily these devices in mind."

Female app/browser users on the rise

In August 2010, males accounted for 56% of Smartphone subscribers who used downloaded applications or browsers. Females however are narrowing the gap with the remaining 44%, representing a 5.5 percentage point increase versus the corresponding August 2009 period. Among the various age segments, 13-17 year olds are exhibiting the strongest growth in using downloaded apps or browsers, up 1.4 percentage points versus year ago to 6.9% of the audience. Persons ages 18-24 are also accelerating adopters of app/browser usage, representing 16.7% of the audience, a 0.6-percentage point increase.

Weather and search represent top content categories

Weather and maps represented the top content categories accessed through downloaded applications in August, used by more than one-third of US Smartphone subscribers. Social networking applications were used by 30%, while search and news applications were used by 18%.

Search was the most popular category accessed through browsers, reaching 54% of the Smartphone audience. 43% of Smartphone subscribers accessed social networking sites via browser, followed by news (40%), weather (36%) and sports information (32%).