A new consumer survey has revealed that the Apple iPhone is today Australia’s most popular mobile phone.The 2011 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI) revealed interesting findings on the use of applications, services, social networking and mobile data in the Australian market.The data shows that a majority of 32% of Australians own an Apple handset today, the first time that the iPhone has overtaken Nokia in the survey.28% of people own a Nokia mobile phone and 13% of all Australians own a Samsung. Other mobile brands that rated less than 10% among Aussies includes: HTC (8%), Sony Ericsson (5%), LG (4%), Blackberry (3%) and Motorola (3%).”There has been a clear shift in handset brand ownership in the last few years. Nokia ownership has been steadily decreasing, as has Motorola, while Apple has been steadily increasing in popularity since the impact of the iPhone release was first captured in 2009,” the report stated.The era of the SmartphoneFurther data released by the study reached other conclusions on Australians’ preferences when it comes to mobile technology devices.There has been a substantial increase in use of mobile data over the last year; more than half of respondents said they use social networking on their phones now and almost half of the respondents own a tablet or plan to purchase one in the next 6 to 12 months.This data shows the strength in which Smartphones are being welcomed into the market by Australians. Smartphone penetration is over 50% in Australia, which has led to a 300% increase in the number of emails being opened on a mobile device for the period 2010/11.The increase in Smartphone useage among Australians is indicative of how the majority of us cannot live without our mobile phones. With most people owning a mobile phone, communication is far easier than it was just 10 years ago.Business text messaging is becoming increasingly common because they can engage with consumers easily in a cost effective way.
