Mobile :companies should not ignore older subscribers who account for 70 percent of users

School-age teens and young adults are leading users the mobile applications sector in Britain and Germany, says M:Metrics, the mobile market authority. In its February Benchmark Survey, the measurement firm found that Generation M, 13 to 24-year-olds, are the most predisposed to use mobile data services. Content companies should not overstate the importance of this group, however, as subscribers 25 and older comprise in excess of 70 percent of mobile content consumers.

"Although 13 to 24-year-olds make up less than 20 percent of the mobile audience in the UK and Germany, they show a high propensity to consume for mobile content, with 62 percent of British, and 47 percent of German, members of Generation M using one or more mobile applications," said Paul Goode, vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics. "But the appeal of mobile content extends beyond youth, as the majority of mobile content consumers are over 25. The challenge the mobile content industry faces is to similarly engage a higher percentage of older consumers."

UK Consumption of Mobile Content and Applications1, By Age
Age	Subscribers	%	Conversion
13-17	1,900,219	13.9%	58.7%
18-24	3,036,734	22.2%	64.8%
25-34	4,057,744	25.8%	56.9%
35-44	3,537,679	20.4%	44.0%
45-54	2,075,540	10.3%	32.3%
55+	2,256,794	7.3%	19.6%
Total	16,864,709		41.1%

Source: M:Metrics, n=15,492 for quarter ending February 28, 2006.

German Consumption of Mobile Content and Applications1, by Age
Age	Subscribers	%	Conversion
13-17	1,273,904	9.0%	48.6%
18-24	2,622,125	18.5%	45.7%
25-34	3,272,747	24.6%	40.5%
35-44	3,597,009	27.5%	35.4%
45-54	2,169,025	12.4%	29.4%
55+	1,921,592	7.9%	24.0%
Total	14,856,402		35.4%

Source, M:Metrics, n=15,445 for quarter ending February 28, 2006.

1 Mobile Content and Applications: Includes subscribers who downloaded a game, graphic or ringtone; used mobile browser or other downloaded application; received text message alert; sent photo or video; used native IM or email client; subscribed to ringback service; or consumed mobile video or streaming audio.

Even in mobile game consumption, an activity typically associated with youth, adults 25 and older comprise 62 percent of game downloaders in both Britain and Germany. But, only two percent of German and three percent of UK mobile subscribers 25 or older downloaded a game in February. This compares to five percent of German teens downloading a mobile game and eight percent of their British counterparts. Subscribers in the 18 to 24 age group are the most likely to download a mobile game. In Germany, this age group accounts for 27.3 percent of the market and in the UK, 26 percent. In both geographies, males out-gamed females, although the gender gap is largest in Germany, at 60 percent male, 40 percent female, versus 54 percent male, 46 percent female in Britain.

M:Metrics also reports that in both Germany and the UK, 13 to 17-year-olds are twice more likely than the average subscriber to download a short video clip, and three times more likely to stream music over the air.

Fashion-conscious females outdo males in personalizing their phones with ringtones, wallpapers and ringback tones, accounting for 53 percent of subscribers who purchased personalization content in Germany and 56 percent in the UK. Teenagers were the predominant users of personalization content. In both countries, the 13 to 17-year old age group was the proportional leader in consumption. Surprisingly, those over 25 account for 75 percent of the German, and 85 percent of the UK markets.

"This data shows that that mobile content has mass appeal," observed Goode. "But in order for this sector to grow, publishers, operators and other mobile content owners need to better identify underserved market segments and develop media that will compel all consumers to look to their devices for information and entertainment."

M:Metrics measures the consumption of mobile content and applications and benchmarks the performance of mobile operators, device manufacturers, platform providers and publishers using a multi-dimensional methodology that includes the largest monthly surveys of mobile subscribers in the U.S, the U.K. and Germany. The following are the results of its Benchmark Surveys in the U.K. and Germany for the quarter ending 28 February 2006.

German Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications M:Metrics Benchmark Survey: February 2006
Activity	Subscribers (000s)	Percent	Percent Change
Sent Text Message	33,493	79.7%	0.6%
Used Photo Messaging	8,365	19.9%	5.6%
Purchased Ringtone	3,162	7.5%	2.9%
Used Personal E-Mail	2,698	6.4%	4.4%
Browsed News and Information	1,735	4.1%	3.2%
Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver	1,340	3.2%	-1.7%
Used Mobile Instant Messenger	1,321	3.1%	14.5%
Used Work E-Mail	1,199	2.9%	4.2%
Downloaded Mobile Game	1,123	2.7%	10.8%

U.K. Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications M:Metrics Benchmark Survey: February 2006
Activity	Subscribers (000s)	Percent	Percent Change
Sent Text Message	34,262	83.6%	0.0%
Used Photo Messaging	10,892	26.6%	2.6%
Browsed News and Information	4,384	10.7%	-7.8%
Purchased Ringtone	2,668	6.5%	-4.0%
Used Personal E-Mail	2,434	5.9%	-4.9%
Downloaded Mobile Game	1,652	4.0%	-1.6%
Used Mobile Instant Messenger	1,319	3.2%	0.0%
Used Work E-Mail	1,099	2.7%	-6.5%
Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver	1,032	2.5%	-2.7%

About M:Metrics

M:Metrics is the pioneer in measuring consumer consumption of mobile content and applications, benchmarking the performance of carriers, handset OEMs, platform vendors, media companies and others. M:Metrics monthly syndicated services empower senior executives in the mobile content and wireless applications sector to make better business, creative, and production decisions informed by highly granular and verifiably true measures of subscriber consumption. M:Metrics, Inc is a private, venture funded corporation headquartered in Seattle, Washington with offices in San Francisco, California.

About M:Metrics Data

Based on continually refreshed samples of nationally representative mobile phone consumers, M:Metrics reports summarize market size, device reach, and key demographic and mobile phone usage characteristics. The data presented here is drawn from an extensive survey questionnaire that collects specific device model and carrier subscription information from each month’s sample of mobile phone consumers, and also drills down into specific details related to current and past usage of various mobile phone applications and content. Data collected from each sample are statistically balanced and projected to the total national population of mobile phone consumers.

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