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New ComScore Mobile Market Data

Wed, November 09, 2011 - 1:31 pm - by Matt

ComScore has released new data on the US phone market and it might make for slightly surprising reading to some.

It shows a few interesting points, all worth consideration of anyone involved in marketing to the mobile market.

1. Feature phones still dominate, look at that huge light blue region. The assumption is that this will shrink exponentially as smartphone take up continues to increase but who will win? Apple? Google? RIM? Microsoft?
2. The data bears out the main challenge for anyone looking large volume mobile marketing, ie limited smartphone and rich media inventory.
3. It would seem there's still a gap in the market for smartphone newcomers, particularly for platforms with lots of resources and distribution, i.e. the Microsoft-Nokia duo. 
4. Look at how quick Android is growing, beware Apple, it's doing what it said it would.Will Apple have to change it's proprietary standpoint and shift to a more open outlook? Can we conceive of a world where App developers aren't at the mercy of the iTunes store?
5. Is it all bad news for Apple though? Not necessarily as it's still growing quite nicely and with the succes of the iPod Touch and iPad it's not all about smartphones for them. The iPhone 4S is also a good looking device and presumably the iPhone 5 will not be long in entering the fray. 

What does it mean for us? Well, we keep doing what we do. Mobile is a large part of our daily output and we're committed to it, using learnings to improve conversions for our clients and find new ways of reaching new audiences within the space.

The overriding lesson here is that we shouldn't forget about about the feature phone for now though.

Tags: smartphone, mobile, iphone, market data