WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

comScore is keeping score on the mobile space. Android is gaining momentum, more people are considering buying an Android phone, while 18% of those surveyed intend to buy a BlackBerry Pearl.

comScore, Inc. released, Android: Crashing the Smartphone Party. Among the report’s key findings is that consumer awareness of Google’s Android is growing rapidly, due in large part to the Verizon Droid ad campaign. Further, of those American consumers in the market for a smartphone, 17 percent are considering the purchase of an android-supported device in next three months, compared to 20 percent indicating they plan to purchase an iPhone.

Android and iPhone Users Consume More Mobile Media than Average Smartphone User

Although Android’s share of the smartphone market is relatively small, it has quickly doubled in the past year to 3.5 percent in October 2009. Understanding the mobile media behavior of Android users highlights why operators and media companies might embrace the platform and fuel its growth.

An analysis of mobile media consumption on smartphones revealed that users of both Apple and Android-supported devices were more likely to engage with mobile media than an average smartphone user. Users of the Apple iPhone were most likely to consume mobile media, with 94 percent of users doing so in September 2009, while 92 percent of Android device users, predominantly T-Mobile G1 users, engaged in mobile media activities, 12 percentage points higher than an average smartphone user.

Apple and Android users were equally likely to engage with news via their browser and nearly identical in their mobile application engagement. Email was the only major activity in which iPhone users (87 percent) were far more likely to participate than Android users (63 percent). Overall, these data suggest that Android users will behave more like iPhone users than other smartphone users.

17 Percent of Consumers in the Market for Smartphones Plan to Buy Android-Supported Device

Google’s Android platform has continued to gain awareness among U.S. consumers. In August 2009, just 22 percent of mobile users had heard of the Android, while in November 2009 this figure had reached 37 percent, largely prompted by the Verizon Droid advertising campaign launched in the fall. The comScore study found that not only is general awareness increasing about Android, but intent to purchase an Android-supported device is also increasing among mobile phone users.

When mobile users were asked in November which phone they planned to buy in the next three months, 17 percent of respondents in the market for a new smartphone said they planned to purchase an Android-supported device, with 8 percent of those planning to purchase a Verizon Droid, compared to 20 percent of respondents who said they planned to purchase an iPhone during that same time period. In comparison, when survey respondents answered this same question in August 2009, only 7 percent indicated an intent to purchase either the T-Mobile G1 or the T-Mobile MyTouch — which were the only Android-supported phones available at the time — while 21 percent of respondents planned to purchase an iPhone in the next three months.

For more information on the report, Android: Crashing the Smartphone Party, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2009/Android_Crashing_the_Smartphone_Party