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74% of Digital Messages Sent on Mobile Devices: TNS Technology

6:15 am on March 26, 2009 | Category: Cell Phones, Messaging, Mobile Devices, Web Services

Almost three quarters of electronic messages are now sent via cell phones and other mobile devices, up from 59% a year ago, according to a survey by TNS Technology. The trend is especially prevalent in emerging markets, where about 90% of messages now go out over wireless networks.

“As mobile devices slowly take away usage share from fixed services in developed markets, in emerging markets consumers are more likely to by-pass fixed communications altogether and go straight to mobiles,” explained TNS Sector Development Manager, Sam Curtis.

In the developed world, emailing from a PC remains the most popular form of messaging, but even this is changing due to the growing popularity of smartphones. In Japan, some 40% of emails are now sent from a mobile device, while a large majority of North American mobile email users (69%) use the feature on a daily basis.

Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) is also increasing in popularity, with 13% of cell phone users (41% of those with smartphones) now sending ‘IM’s over the airwaves, up from 8% at this time last year.

“The way that consumers communicate is changing and diversifying and not one brand or service provider can claim to have effectively captured these trends and delivered the complete consumer communication experience,” Curtis said. But “with stats like these, this won’t be the case for much longer,” he predicted.

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