Angus Kidman23 September 2008, 10:20 AM
iPhone users consume six times as much data as the users of other mobile Internet devices, confirming that Apple's device has had a dramatic impact on the mobile content market.
An analysis of Australian browsing habits during the first two weeks of August by mobile content management company Amethon Solutions found that the average length of time to visit a site on an iPhone was 2 minutes and 45 seconds, compared to 1:37 for the typical mobile browser.
iPhone users even beat out desktop users, who averaged 2:24 on the selection of sites profiled by Amethon. Average page views per visit are higher on the iPhone, at 5.1 pages per visit compared to 3.0 for all mobile users.
iPhone users also consume much more data than the typical user. The dominant form of content viewed was video, which accounted for 87% of traffic, suggesting that new iPhone owners keen to show off their new toy head straight for the video clips.
"The data consumption was something that really stood out for us," said Amethon CTO James Cleary "There was a hugely different data consumption compared to the average mobile."
No other mobile phone has had such an obvious impact on data consumption patterns, Amethon CEO Michael Stone said. "The iPhone is a device unto itself at the moment, especially in the Australian market." One important factor in that figure is that the iPhone defaults to showing regular web sites rather than bandwidth-optimised mobile versions, Cleary suggested.
Over time, those figures will probably shrink slightly, Cleary said. "It's in the first month of launch, so there's probably a lot of ad hoc demonstration. You would expect that to drop a little."
At that point, users will become keener on hunting down specialised sites, Cleary predicted: "Publishers should get serious about producing iPhone-optimised versions of their site."
Another option is to produce iPhone-specific applications for sale through Apple's App Store, but that may not always make business sense. "As much press as the iPhone gets, it's actually a very small proportion of the overall user base," said Stone. "Anyone who wants to build a business on that will face a lot of competition. You really need to pick your market."
The iPhone has already had a significant impact in moving telcos away from a "walled garden" approach of network-exclusive content, though Stone said that shift should not be overestimated. "The App Store is a new walled garden but in a different sense. It's quite a challenge for the operators to know how to handle that."
Apple's biggest long-term challenge will probably come from Google and its Android platform, Cleary suggested.
"Search will be absolutely critical in the mobile domain. People are using Google Search a lot more." On the iPhone, 97% of searches are coming from Google.