AIMIA & MNET RELEASE 7TH ANNUAL AUSTRALIAN MOBILE PHONE LIFESTYLE INDEX

AUSTRALIA'S MOBILE PHONE HABITS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Almost half of the respondents own a tablet or plan to purchase one in the next 6 to 12 months

Satisfaction with carrier services drops compared to last year

Substantial increase in use of mobile data over last year

Apple overtakes Nokia as most popular handset for the first time

More than half of respondents use social networking on their phones

Attitudes toward mobile phone advertising and marketing revealed

Sydney, 6 October 2011 – AIMIA today released the independent findings of the 2011 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI) by. This seventh edition of the survey shows a broadening in the use of applications, services, social networking and mobile data in the Australian market.

“The AMPLI report provides the industry with valuable independent information about the profile, usage behaviour and preferences of Australian mobile phone users,” said John Butterworth, CEO for AIMIA. “For the first time this year we’ve seen more than half the respondents indicate they have a mobile data allowance as part of their phone plan, which is a significant tipping point. When you take a closer look at the results you can see that people are beginning to understand and unleash the capabilities of their phones.”

Dr Marisa Maio Mackay, Research Consultant for the Mnet Group and Director of Complete the Picture Consulting said, "This year we’ve seen an increase in the variety of different services being used, but a stabilisation in the base percentage of people using mobile data services. This builds on last year’s results, which indicated many ‘beginner users’ were trying out mobile services for the first time. We’re now seeing the use of a broader range of mobile services that have now become entrenched in the day-to-day lives of users.”

The pattern of application use seems to be a year behind. This year we have seen the same increase in base use that we saw in mobile services last year, with the results, suggesting that this new group of people are ‘beginner users’ – trying out apps for the first year.

Interest in Tablets

This year, for the first time, the AMPLI Survey captured respondent interest in tablets.

Almost half of the respondents either have a tablet or plan to purchase one in the next 6 or 12 months (49 per cent).

Ownership by age

-85% of those that own a Tablet are aged over 25 years

-45% are 26>41 yrs old and

-40% are ≥41.

Carriers and Handsets

Overall satisfaction with carrier services has dropped substantially from 90 per cent last year to 76 per cent this year.

Smartphone ownership was captured for the first time in the AMPLI 2011 Survey - 67 per cent of respondents stated they owned a Smartphone, which is slightly higher than the industry average. A possible explanation is that the term “Smartphone” is still an “industry” not consumer term and as such (and despite the definition provided in the survey), it may be have been more broadly interpreted by some respondents.

Handset Brand: Apple (32 per cent), Nokia (28 per cent), Samsung (13 per cent), HTC (8 per cent), Sony Ericsson (5 per cent), LG (4 per cent), Blackberry (3 per cent), Motorola (3 per cent), Other (3 per cent)

-There has been a clear shift in handset brand ownership in the last few years. Nokia ownership has been steadily decreasing, as has Motorola, while Apple has been steadily increasing in popularity since the impact of the iPhone release was first captured in 2009 (Survey 4).

Mobile Phone Payments

Typical Monthly Phone Bill Spend was captured for the first time this year: 12 per cent spent less than $20, 27 per cent spent between $21 and$40, 26 per cent spent between $41 and $60, while 20 per cent spent more than $80

63 per cent of respondents said they had data included in their payment plans, a substantial increase from 47 per cent in 2010 and 31 per cent in 2009

The amount of data included in their plans has also been steadily increasing; 32 per cent of respondents now have 1-3GB included in their payment options, compared to 14 per cent last year. This has been largely offset by a decrease in those with less than 50MB - 8 per cent, down from 24 per cent last year.

Overall Mobile Phone Use

83 per cent of respondents used their mobile phone for a purpose other than voice and SMS (texting) in the last 12 months, which was the same as last year and up from Survey 5 in 2009 (77 per cent)

There has been a strong increase in the use of every listed purpose (excepting SMS and voice, which almost everyone already uses). However, the total proportion of respondents who used their mobile phone for a purpose apart from texting and voice was the same as last year, 83 per cent. This suggests that those using their mobile phone beyond texting and voice are using their phone for an increasing range of purpose as it becomes increasingly integral in their day to day activities.

Use of the Mobile Phone for Specific Purposes

51 per cent of respondents browsed the Internet on their mobile phone at least on a weekly basis, compared to 35 per cent last year and 32 per cent in 2009.

54% of respondents visited a website on their mobile phone at least on a weekly basis, compared to 38% last year and 34% in 2009.

Half of the respondents conducted a search using a mobile search engine on their mobile phone at least on a weekly basis, compared to 31 per cent last year and 25 per cent in 2009.

25 per cent of respondents used their mobile phone for banking at least on a weekly basis, compared to 16 per cent last year and 11 per cent in 2009.

20 per cent of respondents used their mobile phone to make payments at least on a weekly basis, compared to 9 per cent last year and 7 per cent in 2009.

Use of the Mobile Phone as an EFTPOS or Credit Card

This question was included for the first time this year given the recent media discussions on the topic.

Around a quarter of the respondents would use their mobile phone as a credit card or EFTPOS card. Around 20 per cent are undecided suggesting they would need additional information to make a decision, which is not unusual given the use of the phone as a credit card or EFTPOS cards is still very much an emerging service.

Use of Non-Voice Communication Services

In the last 12 months the use of all communication services has increased. However, the greatest increases have been in the use of email and social networking on the mobile phone.

As a percentage of all respondents:

63 per cent used MMS, up from 59 per cent last year and 57 per cent in 2009.

55 per cent used email, up from 42 per cent last year and 36 per cent in 2009.

53 per cent used social networking, up from 39 per cent last year and 32 per cent in 2009.

26 per cent used instant messaging, up from 21 per cent last year and 18 per cent in 2009.

20 per cent used video calling, compared to 14 per cent last year and 20 per cent in 2009.

12 per cent used chat, up from 9 per cent last year and in 2009.

Changing Frequency of Use of Communication Services

For the first time this year the additional category “at least 5 times a day” was included in the frequency scale to capture very high-level users. Social networking had the highest percentage of very high-level users (20 per cent), followed by email (19 per cent). Respondents used the remaining communication services infrequently.

Overall Use of Mobile Phone Applications

As a percentage of all respondents:

55 per cent said they had downloaded and installed an application on their mobile phone in the “last 6 months”, up from 41 per cent last year.

There has been a small shift towards the use of applications for work as well as personal use.

48 per cent used apps for personal use only down from 58 per cent last year

34 per cent used apps for “mainly personal use” up from 27 per cent last year

14 per cent used apps for “about equal personal and work use”, up from 10 per cent last year.

2 per cent used apps for work only, the same as last year.

Mobile Phone Advertising and Marketing

Each year the AMPLI report includes a special topic. This year’s topic was ‘Mobile Phone Advertising and Marketing’.

Number and Type of Businesses Respondents Agreed to Receive Messages

40 per cent of the respondents had agreed to receive SMS or MMS messages from businesses on their mobile phone

Respondents had opted in to receive messages from a range of businesses; the most common being banking and “other retail stores” apart from department stores. The overall spread across the various options suggests a range of industries are choosing to communicate with their customers via the mobile phone

As a percentage of those who had opted in to receive messages:

44 per cent opted in to banking type businesses.

32 per cent opted in to “other retail stores”– apart from department stores.

21 per cent opted in to health and beauty providers.

16 per cent opted in to travel shops.

15 per cent opted in to night-clubs, pubs and bars.

15 per cent opted in to department stores.

14 per cent opted in to cinemas and theatres.

11 per cent opted in to group discount sites.

10 per cent opted in to employment agencies.

10 per cent opted in to other entertainment providers.

9 per cent opted in to restaurants and cafes.

6 per cent opted in to car dealers.

An existing relationship is the most important factor in encouraging respondents to engage with mobile messaging, which presents opportunities for businesses to leverage their existing customer base.

29% of respondents stated that “being a regular customer of the business” was very important or important in the decision to engage with the ad or message.

Conversion Rates

Advertising on the mobile phone currently has a low conversion rate to purchase. This is most likely because the design of ads and marketing messages on the mobile phone, and the corresponding exposure and engagement by users is still very much an evolving activity.

• Only a small percentage of respondents (17 per cent for SMS and Banner ads and 12 per cent for MMS ads) claimed that engaging with an ad on their mobile led them to the purchase of the advertised product more than 5 per cent of the time.

• Just over 60 per cent of respondents stated that engaging with an ad on their mobile phones never led to the purchase of the product/service being advertised.

Overall Response to the Idea of Businesses Using the Mobile Phone to Communicate Advertising Type Messages

Respondents were asked to indicate their response to the overall idea of business use of the mobile phone to communicate advertising type messages.

• 20 per cent “liked” or “really liked” the overall idea.

• 47 per cent of the respondents “did not like” or “really didn’t like” the idea.

However, a substantial portion (31 per cent) of respondents are yet to make up their mind about the value of receiving messages from businesses on their mobile phones, saying they “neither liked or disliked”. The challenge, therefore, is for brands and the mobile industry to demonstrate and educate them about the value of coupons for them, as individuals.

The AMPLI report is a collaborative industry research project carried out during June and July 2011 by the Mobile Industry Group (MIG), a special interest group of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA); Mnet Group, and Mobile Experience.