Over 80% of Nigeria's Facebook users access via mobile

"According to Socialbakers, the countries with the highest Facebook mobile penetration are:
Nigeria: 81.2 percent
Brunei: 80.8 percent
South Africa: 80.5 percent
Malawi: 78.3 percent
Papua New Guinea: 78.3 percent
Namibia: 76.7 percent
Botswana: 76.4 percent
Zambia: 73.9 percent
Japan: 72.1 percent
Singapore: 71.8 percent"
Source:  AllFacebook, 8th May 2012
Note - this means the number who access via mobile as a percent of the total users - but the people accessing via mobile may also access on a desktop device.

Mobile accounted for 13% of online sales in the US in Q1 2012

"Mobile is capturing a larger share of the online retailer sector in the US, according to a new report from IBM. Mobile commerce grew to 13.3 per cent of all online retail sales during the first quarter.
Mobile devices generated 17.1 per cent of all online sessions on retail sites, making a significant jump from 6.1 per cent in the year-ago period. The iPhone drives 6.5 per cent of mobile device retail traffic while Android captures 5.9 per cent and the iPad comprised 5.3 per cent.
"Over the first quarter, the digitally empowered consumer continued to demonstrate the momentum of the online channel and specifically mobile commerce, which has established itself as a legitimate channel for shopping," says Craig Hayman, general manager at IBM Industry Solutions. "Moving ahead, we will help retailers synchronize the demand and supply chains to address issues of product availability and connect to the mobile buyer.""
Source:  Data from IBM, reported by Mobile Marketing, 3rd May 2012

By August 2012 there will be 140,000 NFC payment points in the UK

"By the time of the Olympic Games there will be more than 140,000 contactless terminals around the UK. From the moment visitors land at Heathrow they will be immersed in a contactless payment experience with everything from taxis, to retail outlets, to the Olympic Park itself."
Source:  Press release from Samsung and Visa, 9th May 2012

Apple makes 73% of all smartphone handset profits

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Source:  Chart and working from Asymco, quoted in a blog post, 3rd May 2012

Samsung is the largest manufacturer of handsets

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Source:  Data from Strategy Analytics, reported by BusinessWire, 26th April 2012

Apple sold 35m iPhones and 12m iPads in Q1 2012

"Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 second quarter ended March 31, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $39.2 billion and quarterly net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $24.7 billion and net profit of $6.0 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 47.4 percent compared to 41.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The Company sold 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, a 151 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4 million Macs during the quarter, a 7 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7.7 million iPods, a 15 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter."

Source:  Press release from Apple, 24th April 2012

China has 152m 3G subscribers

"Of China's combined total of 151.97 mln 3G subs [at the end of March], China Mobile holds 39.19%, China Unicom 32.15%, and China Telecom 28.66%. Of total new mobile subs added in March, China Mobile took 45.25%, dropping its share of China's total mobile user base to 65.9%. China Unicom's share of the total mobile user base increased for the 14th straight month, rising from 20.6% at the end of February to 20.69% at the end of March, while China Telecom's share increased for the 39th straight month, rising from 13.24% at the end of February to 13.42% at the end of March."

Source:  Marbridge Daily, 27th April 2012

Earlier - 128m at end of December

Square is processing $5bn of payments a year

"Payments platform Square has released a number of new stats today, as well as good news for merchants using its mobile payments app to accept credit cards. According to a Bloomberg report, Square is now processing $5 billion in annual payments (or around $416 million in payments per month), which is up from $4 billion in annual payments in March. And payment volume is up 25 percent over the past month.
Square also says that it will be making funds available in merchants’ bank accounts the next business morning (for any sales made before 5 pm), while other merchant processors can take 2 to 5 business days to get merchants their money. This is a big win for merchants, who now have access to their sales revenue immediately."

Source:  TechCrunch, 18th April 2012

A fifth of online shoppers buy with smartphones

"Payment processing firm WoldPay released its Global Online Shopping Report, which surveyed 15 countries on their e-commerce behaviours in order to uncover differences between nations. It found that on average 22% of disposable income was spent online internationally.
Furthermore, in general the percentage of income spent was higher in emerging markets. Taking the lead is India, where respondents spend 36% of their disposable income on purchasing products or services online.
In China this figure fell slightly to 31% of income spent on e-commerce, and Brazilians were clocked a as dedicating 27% of their earnings in this fashion.
The survey found the spending amounts in mature markets are the highest in the UK, where people spent a quarter of their disposable income on online goods and services, whereas peoples in Finland spend only 13%. Spain and France allocate 17% and 19% of their income respectively.
The proliferation of smartphones has opened up different channels for shoppers to make their purchase, another factor that is proven to vary across the markets.
The survey found that just under a fifth of all online shoppers globally use their smartphone to make a purchase, with people in China using this method the most, (46%), and France coming in last with this metric at 7%."

Source:  Research by WorldPay, reported by UTalkMarketing, 27th April 2012

European Mobile Benchmarks February 2012

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Source:  Data from comScore for the 3 months to September 2011, reported in a press release, 26th April 2012

The technology use of American mothers

"BabyCenter®, LLC, the #1 pregnancy and parenting mobile and web destination worldwide, today released its 2012 American Media Mom report, the latest installment of BabyCenter's 21st Century Mom® Insights Series. At an exclusive gathering of media industry luminaries at the Time Warner Center this morning, the research detailed the dramatic reshaping of the family media ecosystem. The findings were the result of in-home interviews with moms, survey research among over 2,500 moms and other online adults, and a three-screen behavior analysis with Nielsen.
Mom uses the latest digital devices as necessities—not luxuries—to help her master the changing media landscape for herself and her family as she takes on the new role of Family Media Manager. Compared with the general population, moms over-index on ownership and usage of EVERY digital device, including laptops, digital cameras, DVRs, and gaming consoles. In particular, she is 38% more likely than the general population to own an Internet TV device (e.g. Apple TV, Roku), 28% more likely to use a tablet, and 38% more likely to own a smartphone.
[...]
While smartphones continue to be Mom's "remote control for her life," new media disruptors are taking center stage. Tablets, Internet TV, and online video are drastically reshaping the family media experience. Compared to three years ago, over one third of the general population says that they are spending less time watching live TV or reading magazines or newspapers. This pattern is even more exaggerated for Moms – they are 2/3 more likely to say that they spend less time with live TV and radio. And, moms are more than 50% more likely to say that they are spending more time with online video and internet TV than the general online population.
In the year since we unveiled BabyCenter's 21st Century Mobile Mom® Report, smartphone adoption among mothers has increased another 10 percent to 65%. According to Nielsen's Mobile Insights data from Q4 2011, Mom smartphone owners are more likely to use their devices to their fullest capacities than the general population. For instance, she is texting and using social media on her mobile device at a higher rate. Mom is also 53% more likely to use mobile banking applications and 58% more likely to shop via her mobile phone compared to the general population.
The Family Media Manager Runs the Show
[...]
Whether it's watching her favorite shows during some downtime, doling out her kids' YouTube playlist during a long car trip, or tapping into her social graph for opinions on products and services when she's in-store, she will adopt the formats that allow her to maximize her time. According to Nielsen's behavioral data, Mom's spend twice as much time online monthly: 66 hours versus 33 hours for the general population, and spends 63% more time streaming online video. We also found that Mom is 45% more likely to use social media regularly compared to the general population. In short: flexibility and efficiency rule Mom's media day.
More Devices = More Media
It is not a zero sum media game for moms. Multiple devices do not seem to be taking away time from any one media platform. On average, moms are spending 10.9 hours daily with media. According to the 2012 American Media Mom report, those who own an Internet TV device spend over 3 additional hours with media, and moms who own a smartphone, tablet AND Internet TV device are spending over 7 additional hours with media—which adds up to over 17 hours per day—in large part because of mom's heightened ability to multitask with devices and media.
Moms are media multitaskers when it comes to video. Half say that they are always or often talking to someone else or using social media while watching TV. 40% are also going online on their tablet, mobile phone or texting someone while watching TV. And 1 in 4 are talking on the phone at the same time. Moms are twice as likely to be using social media or texting while they are watching videos, 3 in 4 moms say that they skip all of the ads they can while watching television content; a rate that is 20% higher than the general online population.
Her Path to the Register Has Evolved
In BabyCenter's 2011 Shopping Rituals of the American Mom Report, we saw that the purchase funnel has been upended. In the six months since we unveiled that data, mom's reliance on mobile throughout the purchase process has dramatically increased. Usage of mobile media for getting product ideas has risen from 20% to 36%; usage of mobile product/brand recommendations has grown from 17% to 33%; using mobile for feature comparisons has risen from 21% to 37%; mobile for price comparison review grew from 28% to 45%; finding coupons or deals shifted from 22% to 31%; deciding where to buy has nearly doubled from 16% to 30%. Additionally, one in 5 moms have scanned a barcode for price comparisons in the past 30 days, and 9% regularly scan QR codes."
Source:  Press release from BabyCenter, 19th April 2012
Methodology:   "The findings in BabyCenter's 2012 American Media Mom report are the result of qualitative research, quantitative survey data, and three-screen behavioral data with Nielsen. We conducted in-home interviews with new and expecting moms in Chicago and San Francisco in February 2012 through our research partner Gallin Group. In addition, we conducted in-depth survey research on media behaviors and attitudes among 1100 new and expecting moms through BabyCenter's 21st Century Media Panel as well as 1400 non-moms (referred to as general population) using Socratic's online panel. Finally, Nielsen provided a three-screen behavioral analysis across Television, Online and Mobile behavior comparing BabyCenter's moms to persons 18+."

39% of people who bought a book from Amazon in the US has previously looked at the book in a physical store

"Looking at products in stores and then buying them at lower prices via the Internet. A survey conducted in late 2011 by a book market research company, the Codex Group, indicated that 39 percent of people who purchased books from Amazon said they had looked at the book in a bookstore before buying it online. Best Buy’s recently announced fourth-quarter loss – $1.7 billion, resulting in the closing of at least 50 stores – can in part be attributed to “showrooming,” the name given to the practice of visiting stores to look at products and then price shopping and ultimately purchasing the products online. Indeed, Best Buy stores seem to be a perfect venue for finding and toying with all the latest technology – but not necessarily buying it there."

Source:  ReveNews, 19th April 2012

Draw Something has lost 2m daily players since it's peak

"Draw Something, an app that Zynga essentially bought for about $200 million, is in trouble.
It's gone from having more than 14 million players daily to around 12 million, according to AppData.
To try and reverse that, Zynga is today releasing a big update for the game that will give it a bunch of new features that fans have been craving."

Source:  BusinessInsider, 18th April 2012

Mobile accounts for 11% of UK search spend

"Mobile search spend in the UK increased by 250% for Q1 year-on-year (YOY) as traffic on mobile devices increased four-fold, according to data from Adobe.
Mobile now accounts for 11% of all UK search spend compared to 8% in the US.
Of this, tablets alone accounted for 4.25% of UK search spend.
But despite this boom, Adobe’s Global Digital Advertising Update shows that overall search spend only increased by 2% in the UK compared to 16% in the US.
This is lower than the 30.3% YOY increase in US search ad spend reported in IgnitionOne’s Global Online Advertising report, but still shows that the industry is experiencing strong growth.
Adobe’s report suggests that the relatively low increase in UK search spend “reflects the fragile state of the European economic recovery.”"

Source:  Adobe, 10th April 2012

Foursquare has 20m users

"In 2010, foursquare fans declared April 16 4sqDay (4/4^2 – nerds after our own heart!). Two years and two billion check-ins later, you’re still why we get out of bed each day. Thanks to all 20 million of you for making us part of your lives.
There are hundreds of amazing parties planned for tonight! Find one near you here. The foursquare team will be at meetups in NYC, SF, London, Ithaca, and Whitewater, WI – we hope to see you!"

Source:  Blog post by Foursquare, 16th April 2012

Earlier - 15m announced in February 2012

10m announced in June 2011

4m announced in October 2010

1m announced in April 2010

270,000 announced in January 2010

Instagram has 40 million users

"Instagram received a fair amount of press over the last week. First, 10 days ago, the app launched on Android. Then news of Facebook buying the tiny startup for $1 billion was everywhere from the Drudge Report to The Daily Show. The attention resulted in explosive growth. Since the launch of its Android app, Instagram’s user base grew from 30 to 40 million. That’s over 1,000,000 new users a day.
Rakshith, the creator of gramfeed, pinged us this morning after noticing the milestone from Instagram’s API. The 40 millionth user is valentinoelbuti. It seems at the time of this post’s writing, Instagram has exactly 40,026,379 users — or rather, roughly 5% of Facebook’s active user base."

Source:  TechCrunch, 13th April 2012

Starbucks has processed more than 42 million mobile payments in the US

"A novel new way to pay by iPhone or Android at Starbucks locations is proving too convenient for caffeine-crazed customers to pass up.
Starbucks has processed more than 42 million mobile payments since the U.S. launch of its mobile pay program less than 15 months ago, the coffee company shared exclusively with VentureBeat.
Starbucks released “mobile pay,” a prominent feature of the company’s iPhone and Android applications, in January 2011. Customers use the mobile app to load money on to a digital Starbucks Card and then present a 2D barcode to pay at the register. Baristas simply scan the barcode using the scanners they already have at their cash registers. Mobile pay first launched in the U.S., but has since migrated to Canada and the U.K., and Starbucks recently made it available to customers ordering from drive-thru windows.
In December 2011, Starbucks revealed that it had processed 26 million mobile payments. Adoption continues to grow expotentially, the company said."

Source:  VentureBeat, 9th April 2012

China has 365m mobile internet users

"According to a report on the state of development of China's mobile internet newly released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as of the end of 2011, China's number of mobile internet users had reached 356 mln, an increase of 122 mln within one year. By the end of 2011, total smartphone users in China reached 190 mln, with daily mobile internet use per user at an average of 109 minutes a day. Most-used features included Tencent's (0700.HK) QQ instant messaging platform and other IM clients, as well as mobile search.
The proportion of smartphone users who surfed the internet over their phones multiple times a day was 60.2%, 13 percentage points more than the proportion of non-smartphone users who did the same. Although smartphone users were stickier in their use of the mobile internet, the average daily total time they spent surfing on their phones was not significantly greater than the time spent by non-smartphone users on theirs. Average total time spent online per day for smartphone users was 109 minutes, while average total time spent online per day for non-smartphone users was 106 minutes, a difference of only 2.9%.
In the second half of the past year, over 80% of mobile Internet users did not purchase mobile apps."

Source:  Beijing Evening News, via Marbridge Daily, 9th April 2012

Google's paid search clicks from mobile devices increased by 132% in 2011

"In 2011, paid search clicks from mobile devices on Google increased 132% from January to December. By December 2012, Marin Software projects smart mobile devices will generate 25% of all paid-search clicks on Google as a result of the explosive adoption of smartphones and tablets. Consumers are much more engaged with search ads on smartphones and tablets as opposed to desktops, as evidenced by click through rates that are respectively 72% and 31% higher. Search ads on smart mobile devices also have a lower costs-per-click than desktop ads. This difference, in cost coupled with higher click-through rates on mobile, creates favorable performance conditions for advertisers and increased demand for mobile ads." Source: Press release from Marin Software, 26th March 2012

The app Draw Something has has more than 50m downloads in 50 days

"Zynga has released a statement that says Draw Something has passed 50 million downloads, making it one of the fastest growing apps of all time. It's likely the only app to ever hit 50 million downloads in just 50 days.
"We believe it’s not only the fastest growing original mobile game of all time – 50 days to hit 50 million downloads - but one of the fastest growing web sensations that we’ve seen.  In addition, the game just regained its spot as the #1 paid app in the App Store, knocking off Angry Birds Space," says Zynga."

Source:  Business Insider, 4th April 2012