WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

eBay saw a  surge in buyers tapping their eBay iPhone app and other eBay mobile applications. Many items were bought on iPhone and in exclusive zip codes.

The number of items bought via eBay mobile apps this year was triple last year's holiday volume. In 2009, eBay buyers and sellers are generating more than half a billion dollars of transactions via mobile, with strong momentum this holiday season. Nearly 6 million people have eBay on their iPhone and shoppers are making 750,000 unique visits a day to eBay via mobile apps. Mobile purchases this season range from designer handbags to a $75,000 1966 Chevrolet Corvette.

Here are some mobile eBay trends:

• Nearly six million people are carrying eBay around in their pocke.
• Users from more than 165 countries visited the eBay mobile Web site and iPhone application.
• 1.5 million items were bought on eBay using mobile phones worldwide this holiday season.

In the U.S., the early adopters in mobile commerce are the Texans:

• Four of the top 10 U.S. ZIP codes for number of people buying via their mobile phones are from Texas, including Burleson, TX 76028; El Paso, TX 79936; Frisco, TX 75034 and McKinney, TX 75070, followed closely by Florida, New York and California.
  

In 2009, an item sold every 2 seconds via eBay mobile applications worldwide with luxury items a favorite of shoppers this holiday season; some recent mobile transactions in the US include:

• $19,108 for a 23-foot deck boat.
• $10,025 for 250 grams of pure gold bullion.
• $10,000 for a Boston grand piano made by Steinway.
• $3,888 for a Hermes Kelly bag.
• $770 for a Jean Paul Gaultier wool and leather coat.
• $600 for a pair of Christian Louboutin camel colored patent leather pumps.