Sybase 365, a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), the global leader in mobile messaging and mobile commerce services, has announced the results of a new Global Mobile Usage Report, which surveyed user trends in approaching and utilising mobile services in 16 countries, including Australia.
While mobile internet usage is on the rise, the research showed Australia is still mainly a land of ‘texters’. While 81% use SMS at least weekly, 24% access the internet on their mobile phones, 22% use instant messaging and 10% get updates on social networks of their choice.
Maxence
Paindavoine, business development director at Sybase 365 Australia, commented: “Asia
Pacific, with its three mass markets China, India and Indonesia, has seen a
tremendous surge in mobile data services, including mobile email and internet
access. Australia fares comparably to other Anglo Western markets, such as the
US and the UK.”
The
Sybase 365 Global Mobile Usage Report also showed that while usage of mobile
services other than SMS is still relatively low, Australians have a healthy appetite
for mobile services if these are tailored to their needs.
Services we like…
Australians earned the world’s top spot for their
interest in messages from political parties or NGO campaigns such as Greenpeace
with 83%, compared to 79% in US in a close second and only 5% in the UK. Other
mobile services Australians expressed most interest in, included sports alerts
with 68%, mobile community alerts (social networking) with 65%, and share
market updates with 71%. In all
three categories Australia leads in APAC, but ranks behind the US by a few
percentages, where 75% showed interest in sports alerts, 68% in mobile
community alerts and 74% in share market updates. In the UK, in stark contrast,
only 11% of respondents are interested in sport alerts, 10% in mobile community
alerts, and only 8% in share market updates.
Paindavoine said: “Mobile providers
face tough decisions in monetising a maturing market. For the first time they face
a challenge that is social rather than technological. User understanding and
tailored services are key to the next stage of adoption of mobile services.”
Australians were also above-average in their interest in receiving
offers and coupons delivered by mobile, with 47% vs. 39% global average. This
provides businesses with an opportunity to enhance their marketing with mobile
capabilities to drive sales and customer loyalty.
“Mobile
coupons can be SMS-based to reach any customer on any mobile operator network.
We see a real opportunity for our mCRM solution in Australia, as it requires no
additional hardware and integrates with all payment systems,” Paindavoine adds.
Sybase 365 recently announced the availability of an
expanded portfolio of mCRM tools and services, enabling enterprises to engage
customers throughout the entire customer lifecycle, using the mobile channel. In addition to Sybase 365’s mobile marketing,
mobile advertising, mobile messaging and mobile payments capabilities, enterprises
will now be able to drive mobile coupons, mobile loyalty programs, and mobile
research across a single platform, increasing insight into consumer preferences
and improving customer acquisition and retention.
Services we don’t like…
Surprisingly, considering the threat by bush fires and flooding, only 26% of Australians expressed interest in receiving mobile emergency alerts. The interest was only lower in South Africa, with 11%. Globally, emergency alerts were the most popular mobile services, with 46% of respondents indicating they would like to have access to such a service.
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Methodology
The research was conducted in 16 countries using an online methodology by Loudhouse Research, an independent market research consultancy based in the UK. At least 250 mobile phone users participated in the survey in each country. Overall, the survey was completed by slightly more than 4,100 mobile users. The countries in the survey were United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, South Africa, Mexico, United States, Argentina, Canada, India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
About Sybase 365
Sybase 365, a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), is the global leader in enabling mobile information services for mobile operators, financial institutions and enterprises. We provide our customers with the widest offering in SMS, MMS and GRX interoperability, end-to-end mobile commerce solutions, innovative text messaging, mobile marketing and content delivery services. Sybase 365 processes more than 1.3 billion messages per day, reaching 850 operators and 4 billion subscribers around the world. For more information, visit: www.sybase.com/365. Read our blogs: http://blogs.sybase.com
Sybase and Sybase 365 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc. All other company and product names mentioned may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. ® indicates registration in the United States.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release concerning Sybase, Inc. and its new products, business relationships, prospects and future growth are forward-looking and involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the performance of the global economy and growth in mobile telecommunications services sales; market acceptance of the company's products and services; customer and industry analyst perception of the company and its technology vision and future prospects; the success of certain business combinations engaged in by the company or by competitors; political unrest or acts of war; possible disruptive effects of organizational or personnel changes. These and other risks are detailed from time to time in Sybase's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q (copies of which can be viewed on Sybase's Web site).