comScore has released The comScore 2010 Mobile Year in Review, an inaugural report that recaps key trends in the mobile landscape in 2010 throughout the US, Europe (EU5) and Japan. The report highlights important components of the mobile market including device trends, smartphone adoption, browser/application usage and mobile content consumption, with a look at how marketers can utilize the mobile medium in 2011.

The report notes that smartphones aggressively penetrated the mobile market in 2010, driving an escalation in mobile media consumption by subscribers worldwide. Technological innovations enabled an extraordinary number of new capabilities for mobile devices, even expanding the definition of what it means to be ‘mobile’ through the introduction of tablets, e-readers and other connected devices. As more subscribers access the mobile web in 2011, it will become essential for marketers to reach this rapidly-expanding segment of consumers.

Key findings highlighted in the report include:

• Smartphone adoption accelerated in both the US and Europe. US smartphone adoption reached 27 per cent of mobile subscribers in December 2010, an increase of 10 percentage points from the previous year, while European adoption reached 31 per cent, also up nearly 10 points versus year ago.
• Network quality and the cost of the monthly plan were the top two purchase consideration factors for mobile subscribers in the US and the UK.
• Nokia was the top OEM in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. Samsung took the top spot in the US and France, and also ranked in the top three in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain.
• 36 per cent of mobile Americans and 29 per cent of Europeans browsed the mobile web in December 2010, with access through an application reaching 34 per cent of Americans and 28 per cent of Europeans. Across regions, mobile browsing and app usage is growing in the range of 7-9 percentage points per year.
• More than 75 per cent of mobile subscribers in Japan are connected media users (used their browser, accessed applications or downloaded content) far surpassing the US and European countries in this regard. Japan also saw nearly 10 per cent of its mobile audience make a purchase with their mobile wallet in December 2010.
• Over the past year, the number of mobile users that accessed a social networking site at least once a month via their mobile device increased by 56 per cent to nearly 58m users in the US. Even stronger growth occurred in Europe, with a 75per cent increase in the number of users over the last year, to 42m in December 2010.

“2010 was a game-changing year for the mobile industry,” says Mark Donovan, comScore’s senior vice president of mobile. “Smartphone adoption, 3G penetration and unlimited data plans drove a surge of mobile media consumption across geographies and deepened the integration of mobile devices into everyday life. And the coming year has the potential to be even more exciting. As the mobile ecosystem continues to develop, including progress in mobile advertising and commerce, it’s clear that mobile is destined to become an increasingly important platform for digital marketers across all industries.”

comScore mobile experts will be presenting insights from the report via live webinars. Jeremy Copp, VP mobile for comScore, and Alex Kozloff, mobile manager at the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK will present The 2010 Mobile Year in Review webinar on Thursday, 10 March from 11am – 12 noon GMT. You can register for this webinar here.
Mark Donovan, SVP of mobile at comScore will present the same webinar but with a focus on US trends on Tuesday, 15 March from 1 – 2pm EDT. You can register for this webinar here.