Operator-provided voice and messaging services are losing ground as a new wave of communication services compete for users' attention on smartphones.
We used on-device trackers to gather usage data from a panel of consumer
smartphone users in France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the USA during a
two-month period. In this report, we analyse the users' communications habits
to offer some real-world quantification of the scale of disruptive usage.
This Report provides:
insight into real-world smartphone usage by handset manufacturer,
operating system, country, age and gender
quantification of the extent to which disruptive services are being used
on smartphones
benchmarks for usage of traditional voice and messaging services
details of:
how smartphone users use different modes of communication throughout the
day
how text-based communication is evolving on smartphones
the real-world impact of WhatsApp Messenger, over-the-top messaging and
instant messaging
Skype, Viber and WhatsApp Messenger smartphone usage, by age, gender and
country
VoIP usage as a proportion of total voice usage
how installing WhatsApp affects users' SMS usage.
Figure 1: Time of day during which the panel initiated different smartphone
communication activities, as a percentage of daily instances
[Source: Analysys Mason and Arbitron Mobile, 2012]
Note: Key data/information in this graph is hidden, while in the report is not.
About the authors
Stephen Sale (Principal Analyst) is the lead analyst for Analysys Mason's Voice and Messaging research programme. His primary areas of specialisation include consumer VoIP, fixed - mobile substitution and pricing strategies. Before joining Analysys Mason, Stephen worked in a number of research and marketing roles within the telecoms industry and has several years' experience in VoIP and broadband access. He has a degree in economics and an interdisciplinary Mres from the University of London.
Martin Scott (Principal Analyst) co-ordinates Analysys Mason's primary research report series, including reports related to consumer smartphone usage and the Connected Consumer series. Martin also leads Analysys Mason's Fixed Broadband and Media research programme and contributes regularly to the Mobile Broadband and Devices programme. His primary areas of specialisation include customer satisfaction and consumer-facing marketing strategy, broadband retail pricing and bundling. Martin also specialises in statistics, surveys and the analysis of primary research. He has produced research for Analysys Mason on different aspects consumer demand for present and next-generation services, the business case for value-added services, such as videotelephony and three-screen advertising and broadband (next-generation) access. Martin has a Master's degree in Mathematics from Oxford University.
Table of Contents
5. Executive summary
6. Smartphones are bringing a variety of audio- and text-based
communication services into competition for the first time
7. Operators will be concerned that the sub-set of users that have already
substituted their traditional voice service for a VoIP app will grow
8. Almost half of smartphone users use IM or OTT messaging services,
presenting operators with some urgent challenges
9. Recommendations
10. Recommendations [1]
11. Recommendations [2]
12. Introduction
13. Real-world usage: we measured consumer smartphone usage via an -
on-device monitoring app, in partnership with Arbitron Mobile
14. The smartphone user panel was designed to be representative of the
smartphone market in the countries covered
15. Multiple communication services coexist on smartphones
16. Smartphones are bringing a variety of audio- and text-based
communication services into competition for the first time
17. Email usage is more immediate when the service is associated with the
mobile handset
18. The relative intimacy of different communication services is shown by
tracking usage by time of day
19. Traditional services are vulnerable to substitution
20. Switching off traditional voice services does not depend on age, but
there is segmentation by OS
21. A high proportion of calls are aborted, potentially leading to
frustration
22. The balance of incoming versus outgoing calls varies by country
23. Both traditional and alternative players look to exploit the network
effect
24. SMS usage varies significantly across the panel, with a large number
of inactive users
25. Quantifying the impact of disruptive usage
26. Quantifying the impact of disruptive usage
27. 20% of panellists are active users of VoIP apps
28. A small subset of panellists have substituted their traditional voice
service for a VoIP app
29. Almost half of smartphone users use IM or OTT messaging services
30. Variation of OTT adoption by country highlights the role of pricing in
substitution
31. Women are more likely than men to use social network apps on their
smartphones, but less likely to use mobile VoIP
32. Facebook and WhatsApp Messenger do not have the universal age appeal
of mobile VoIP services
33. How and where disruption occurs
34. How and where disruption occurs
35. Several panellists installed an OTT messaging app, but did not reduce
their usage of SMS
36. The widespread availability of Wi-Fi opens the door to
non-operator-provided services
37. Prohibitive charging for services when roaming gives smartphone users
an incentive to find alternative communication services
38. Methodology and definitions
39. Methodology and definitions
40. About Arbitron Mobile
41. About the authors and Analysys Mason
42. About the authors
43. About Analysys Mason
44. Research from Analysys Mason
45. Consulting from Analysys Mason
List of figures
Figure 1: Time of day during which the panel initiated different
smartphone communication activities, as a percentage of daily instances
Figure 2: Usage of VoIP apps
Figure 3: Distribution of smartphone panellists by usage of SMS, IM/OTT
messaging services and WhatsApp Messenger
Figure 4: Illustration of Analysys Mason - Arbitron smartphone data
analysis process
Figure 5: Smartphone panellists included in this report, by country
Figure 6: Smartphone panellists included in this report, by age
Figure 7: Smartphone panellists included in this report, by OS
Figure 8: Attributes of the various communication services available on
smartphones
Figure 9: Active use of different text-based communication apps, by
operating system
Figure 10: Time of day during which the panel initiated different
smartphone communication activities, as a percentage of daily instances
Figure 11: Traditional voice usage by age
Figure 12: Traditional voice usage by OS
Figure 13: Distribution of duration of outgoing calls among panellists
Figure 14: Distribution of incoming versus outgoing voice traffic
Figure 15: The average proportion of outgoing voice minutes that
panellists made to their most-called contacts during the two-month observation
period
Figure 16: Usage distribution of outgoing SMS text messages
Figure 17: Active users of VoIP apps
Figure 18: Usage of VoIP apps
Figure 19: Distribution of smartphone panellists by usage of SMS, IM/OTT
messaging services and WhatsApp Messenger
Figure 20: Active use of different communication apps among smartphone
panellists, by country
Figure 21: Active use of different communication apps among smartphone
panellists, by gender
Figure 22: Active use of different selected mobile apps among smartphone
panellists, by age group
Figure 23: SMS usage before and after installing WhatsApp Messenger
Figure 24: Percentage of panellists who use OTT communications apps, by
type of data connectivity
Figure 25: Types of data connectivity used abroad by panellists who spent
any time away from their home country during the observation period
