Photo messaging climbs as cameraphones snap up market share

You don’t need an IQ much larger than your shoe size to realise that cameraphone ownership and usage is climbing across the U.S. and Europe, though mobile market market research specialist M:Metrics, is able to put numbers to the growth and reports it is quite explosive. With summer vacations in full swing in America, photo messaging has increased 32 percent since February, while in Europe, it has increased 20 percent in France and 16 percent in the United Kingdom, while remaining steady in Germany, where 19 percent of mobile phone subscribers used photo messaging in June. The table shows the Photo Messaging Conversion Rate for Camera Phone Owners for the most recent quarter, Ended June 2006.

“At 50.7percent, the number of mobile subscribers in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States owning cameraphones has grown 22 percent since February of this year,” said Mark Donovan, vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics. “We also see a direct correlation between camera resolution and propensity to use photo messaging, as 44.3 percent of subscribers who own phones with cameras with resolutions exceeding one megapixel sent a photo over the network, versus a global average of 30.5 percent.” The RAZR is the popular cameraphone in the United Kingdom and the United States, while the Nokia 6230 tops the German market and the Sagem my X-5 is the cameraphone of choice among the French. However, in terms of conversion rate, meaning those who use their cameraphones to generate revenue for their operator by sending a photo on the network, the top devices are the Nokia 6630 in France, the Nokia 6280 in Germany, the Nokia 6111 in the United Kingdom and the Danger Sidekick II in the United States.

M:Metrics applies trusted media measurement methodologies to assess the audience for mobile content and applications. As the world’s most authoritative mobile market measurement firm, M:Metrics delivers the most accurate mobile market metrics through the largest monthly survey of mobile subscribers in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France, as well as automated data collection methodologies. Below are the findings of its June Benchmark Survey.