Davey Winder
Wednesday, 09 July 2008 02:51
Your IT -
Mobility
Page 1 of 3
Could this be the death of the holiday picture postcard? The latest study suggests that parents and grandparents are picking up the camera phone and putting down the pen. At least when the weather is warm...
M:Metrics (now part of comScore) is one of the
few research firms to actually measure mobile media audiences using
on-device metering, and as such can be an impressive temperature gauge
as far as mobile trend spotting is concerned. Which is why the
publication of the latest
M:Metrics Benchmark Study has got my attention.
It is summer in Europe and the Unites States
right now, and photo messaging has traditionally risen when the sun
shines and the heat hits. Which makes the fact that, in the US at
least, photo messaging from mobile phones has already grown by 60
percent in the last year an interesting figure to watch. Some are
wondering just how much the usage will peak during July and August.
Some are asking if the postcard will finally become extinct as the
camera phone takes over?
In Europe where photo messaging is a more mature technology having got
off to a much earlier start, growth is only 16 percent. Indeed, in this
market there are less pronounced summer peaks with a more consistent
feel to usage rates across the year. M:Metrics report that, from 2006
to 2007, the photo messaging use in Europe during the month of July was
average and in August only 7 percent higher than average.
Oddly, in Europe it is December where the biggest spikes can be seen
and geographically disparate families share Christmas holiday
celebrations, often sending photos from their brand new phones. In the
US there is also a December peak, but it is summer where the most
interest remains for now.
So where do grannies enter the photo messaging equation? Read on for the age related info...
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