07 January,2009 06:56 AM IST | | Balaji Narasimhan
Every New Year brings with it a list of its own top ten lists from various research groups and this year is no different. In December 2008, The Nielsen Company released a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2008. This list covered various areas like TV, Internet, music, books, and others.
One interesting area that is also a part of this study is mobile phones. While this study is solely aimed at the US, it has relevance to us also in India because the mobile phone has revolutionised communication in this country. In September 2008, ITU (International Telecommunication Union, the UN specialised agency for telecommunications) Secretary-General Hamadoun Touru00c3u00a9 announced in New York that worldwide mobile cellular subscribers are likely to reach the 4 billion mark before the end of the year. The biggest players were supposed to be the BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, which were expected to account for over 1.3 billion mobile subscribers by the end of 2008.
While India has 3.37 fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants as of 2007, the corresponding figure for mobile cellular subscribers is 26.58. And if you think that this is small, well we have 13.70 TVs per 100 population, and it is amazing how mobiles, which were launched far after TVs, have grown so much. Way back in 2006, a staggering 60.90 per cent of India's population was covered by mobile signals.
Naturally, it would be nice to look at what people will do on mobiles other than talk and send SMSes. And in some ways, it is no surprise at all that mail is so prominent. In fact, if you add up the figures in the box, mail accounts for over 38 million of the total unique audience of 82 million. In other words, for over 46 per cent of the people, mail is a major application on the mobile.
It is also interesting to note that search is one of the key areas that people are interested in, along with sports and weather. In fact, these three areas together account for over 32 per cent. And while Facebook accounts for just 6 per cent today, based on the assumption that people use the mobile primarily for communication, we can be sure that the social networking segment will soon account for a much larger part of the pie in the years to come.
QUICK TAKE
>>Mail seems to be a hot favourite when it comes to mobile users
>>This is but natural because mobiles, like mail, are for keeping in touch
>>Social networking may be the next big thing
The toppers
Here is a list of the top 10 Websites accessed over mobile phones in the US in October 2008:
Ranku00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 u00a0Brandu00a0u00a0u00a0 u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 Unique Audience
1u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0Yahoo! Mailu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 u00a0 15,249,000
2u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 Google Searchu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a010,520,000
3u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 Gmailu00a0u00a0u00a0 u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 9,511,000
4u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 Weather Channelu00a0u00a0u00a08,706,000
5u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 ESPNu00a0u00a0 u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 7,610,000
6u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 MSN Hotmailu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a07,428,000
7u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 Google Mapsu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 u00a0u00a0u00a0 6,849,000
8u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 AOL Emailu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 5,978,000
9u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 CNN Newsu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a05,369,000
10u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 Facebooku00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a05,010,000
Source: The Nielsen Company
