Less than 10 per cent buy content through their phones - study

A new study by market research firm Compete has revealed that less than 10 per cent of mobile phone owners buy content through their handsets.

More than 2000 consumers were interviewed for the study, which can be viewed as a PDF via the Compete website.

The availability of content, including games, music, video and ringtones, was found to be the sixth most important factor for consumers when it comes to choosing a service provider. Taking priority were network coverage, service plan pricing, promotional offers, family plan option and availability of a physical store, in that order.

The study also found that 13 per cent of consumers are interested in purchasing entertainment such as games, TV, video and music for their phones - but just 9 per cent already do.

Around 15 per cent of all-in market shoppers said they would be willing to receive a few adverts or commercials on their phone per day in exchange for a free game every month. The figure rose to 38 per cent for the on-demand segment.

The study concluded that, "The monthly ARPU gains provided by content services are helpful and growing, but the true value may lie in the stickiness created by delivering highly usable mobile content.

"To target the needs of the on-demand segment, messaging needs to be more clearly focused on anytime, anywhere accessibility of content, not just its availability."