Software giant Oracle recently released a report focused on the mobile space showing that increased consumer demand of mobile data services is a worldwide phenomenon fueled by the rise of smartphone adoption and more robust network offerings.
The survey, “Opportunity calling: The future of mobile communications – take two,” (“take one” was released last year) found that among 3,000 mobile phone consumers worldwide, 69% said they use a smartphone and 47% said they have increased their data usage over the past year. Oracle noted that the increased data usage was more than was reported for voice or text messaging services.
That increased data usage appears to be coming from a variety of actions, as the report also found that consumers are increasingly using their mobile device to replace other electronic devices. The report noted that 43% of respondents have already replaced their digital camera, 34% their MP3 player and 24% their personal GPS device with their mobile phone.
Consumers are also increasingly using their mobile device in the retail environment with 30% of those surveyed saying they use their device to comparison shop, 24% read consumer reviews and 14% have scanned a QR code in an advertisement or article. It should also be noted that while the shopping experience is moving to the mobile environment, 84% of those surveyed still prefer to purchase their goods in an actual retail store.
While data usage in surging, consumers still appear confused about security issues while using their mobile devices. The report found that 68% of respondents did not believe or were unsure as to whether information stored or transmitted over their mobile devices was secure.
Oracle did note that the results from the survey could be impacted by its questioning of tech-savvy consumers, but that the general notion of increased data demand and awareness by consumers was valid across most demographics.
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