The Mobility 2012 research study, conducted by World Wide Worx, with the backing of First National Bank, was released this week, providing an up-to-date overview of the local mobile landscape.
The study is conducted annually and the fieldwork is carried out by Dashboard Marketing Intelligence on behalf of World Wide Worx. The sample included just under 1 200 people from across the country, all over the age of 16. The survey is conducted on a face-to-face basis, and was carried out during May and June.
Mobility 2012 comprises two reports: “The Mobile Consumer in SA” and “The Mobile Internet in SA”. The top findings from the Mobile Consumer report are detailed here. The following are some of the key takeaways from the Mobile Internet report:
1. Data proportion of spend has grown by 50% since 2010 (currently at 12%). Voice has dropped from 77% to 73% of total spend. Messaging and content spend proportions remain consistent.
2. A total of 93% of respondents use their cellphones to access the Internet. Mobile Internet is the only form of Internet access for over half (52%) of South Africans.
3. According to the findings, those who access the Internet on their phones spend an average of 6.5 hours online in a typical week. In 2010, 63% spent less than five hours online.
4. Nokia still has 50% of the local cellphone market. Samsung has dropped from 28% to 18% and BlackBerry has increased its market share from 4% to 18% in the last 18 months. Apple's iPhone is at 1% market share.
5. Android currently has under one million users in SA. There are about 4.5 million BlackBerry users, and below 500 000 iPhone users.
6. The use of social networking services and instant messaging is seen as a barometer of the data shift. Facebook use is up from 22% to 38%, Whatsapp has come from nowhere to take 26% and BBM has risen from 3% to 17%. Mxit has remained at 23%, with its growth said to be hampered by the growth of the other services.
7. Among the respondents, 84% use Google search on their phones. Another 20% use Wikipedia. Among the news sites News24 (25%) and Google News (20%) are the most popular.
8. In terms of number of features used on a phone, the youth market uses seven features on average, while the oldest age group uses less than three features. Graduates are also likely to have four times the number of features used, compared to less educated people.
9. The top five features used on mobile phones in SA include the camera (66%), FM radio (49%), Internet browser (41%), music player (41%) and Facebook (38%).
10. Since 2010, BBM usage has increased by 467%. Facebook usage is up 73% and Twitter is up 100%.
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