To reach the mobile mass market, look beyond iPhone says Bango

Mobile analytics company Bango today declared that for mobile browsing and purchasing, the iPhone isn’t even in the top 20 most used handsets. The Bango Top 20 handset list, compiled in February, puts the iPhone in 24th position on the list.
The list was compiled from data from Bango Analytics and Bango Payment. Bango Analytics gathered data from consumers as they browsed the websites of brands and businesses, and Bango Payment observed the purchase of mobile content and services.

Key stats:

The Nokia 3110c was the most used device, followed by the Samsung M800 and the Nokia 6300 in 2nd and 3rd place.

1,811 different types of handsets were used to access the mobile Internet in just one month.

Smartphones account for 30% of handsets in the Top 20

For more info go to http://bango.com/support/top20handsets.aspx

From the release:

“The iPhone has done a lot to encourage people to browse the internet on their phones,” says Ray Anderson, CEO of Bango. “But to get the most out of their mobile marketing spend, companies who are riding the iPhone wave, attracted by its excellent features and user demographics, need to optimize their mobile websites for all phones - especially those in Bango’s Top 20 handset list.  Without this, they will be missing out on the mass market. What is clear is that mobile marketers need to better understand their users. Our Bango mobile analytics provides analysis of mobile visitors, mobile site activity and marketing campaigns, with detailed metrics including unique visitor count, country, network and handset of each user. This helps brands to make the best decisions about future mobile investments and get closer to their customers.”

What we think?

There’s a few things that immediately leap at me from these results:

1) Don’t just concentrate on the newest, shiniest channel - the iPhone App Store is probably the most appealing channel for selling apps, products or brands at the moment, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best. The big problem with the iPhone is the amount of hype surrounding it. That’s not to say it’s not actually a good service. But the sheer quantity of hype can make it hard to view objectively.

2) High-end isn’t always high sales - this is something I’ve been convinced of for a long time. Too much focus is put into smartphones at the moment, before the technology and the market are really mature. There are huge amounts of low-end and feature phones out there, and people are happy to browse the mobile web and buy things with them. Just look at the above list! Concentrating on making the basic mobile web experience better should be a higher priority now.

3) Walled-garden app stores don’t suit the current market - this point harks back to the App Store again. While it’s certainly got a vast number of apps available on it, those apps are only being sold to the iPhone market. And that’s not the biggest market by any standard. Open stores like GetJar are doing amazing business, as any user with any device can access it.