Smartphone Proficiency? Ouch, U.S. Near the Bottom

Smartphone sales in the U.S. are growing at a blistering pace, but that doesn't mean buyer proficiency is keeping up with the rate of sales.

The United States finished last in the use of basic mobile communications technologies such as text messaging and instant messaging in a global survey of mobile users commissioned by Sybase 365 that was released this week.

In the U.S., only 31.5 percent of those surveyed said they use either text messaging or IM. By contrast, Chinese users topped the list with 90 percent of those surveyed saying they used those same features.

When it comes to more advanced services, the U.S. did even worse. Only 12.9 percent of the U.S. respondents said they make use of either mobile e-commerce or communication services such as updating social media content. Only Canada, at 11.9 percent and Australia, at 12.1 percent, fared worse. Again, China had a strong showing with 49.2 percent of users saying they used mobile commerce services.

A report accompanying the survey results pointed out that while there is a growing demand for mobile commerce services in the U.S., such services are more broadly available outside the U.S. In the specific case of mobile banking, 34 percent of respondents from Asian countries said they use their mobile handsets for banking purposes, while only 21 percent in the U.S. said they did.

"There is a suggestion, particularly in the USA, of a two-tier system of mobile usage, with relatively high numbers entirely disengaged from mobile (unaware, for example, of text messaging) yet higher than average numbers engaging with cutting-edge features like live TV and Skype. Overall though, usage of key features is relatively high, with a third across the Americas sample emailing via mobile on a weekly basis, and 37 percent using instant messaging," the report said.

The Americas did have the highest percentage of demand in two areas compared to the rest of the world. Twenty six percent of responders in the Americas said they wanted official emergency services, closely followed by ticketing at 23 percent of those surveyed.

Segmenting from Techie to Recluse

Based on survey results, Sybase 365 segmented users globally into six categories. "Enthusiast" was the largest segment at 26 percent and "Recluse" was the smallest at 2 percent.

Sybase 365 defined the archetypal Enthusiast as a man in his mid-20s in China who uses his mobile phone as life-management tool for banking, paying bills, gathering information and spending a great deal of time managing his social life.

"Techie" was the next highest segment at 23 percent of the mobile population. The archetypal Techie is an Indonesian man in his late 20s who is on top of what the latest apps are and strives for a mobile device with all the features of his desktop computer. The key products for Techies are next generation services and high end financial tools.

Clocking in at 19 percent is the Socialite; are typically an Italian man in his mid-30s who mainly wants a mobile device for speed, connectivity and to pick up lots of lifestyle information to help him enjoy his life more. The key products for Socialites include coupons, special offers and social network information.

About 13 percent of mobile users are Sophisticates. The typical Sophisticate identified by Sybase would be a French woman in her late 30s who uses the Internet to schedule all activities and is very technology-savvy. A Sophisticate uses her phone to manage finances, from check balancing to checking on investments but, unlike the Socialite, is not interested in using the device to network.

The last two segments, Researcher and Recluse, account for 17 and 2 percent of the mobile population respectively. The Researcher could be a German woman in her 40s who is likely to use her phone as an information gathering tool, perhaps as an alternative to more traditional information sources such as the library. She is community focused and very interested in all locally significant data.

Sybase said the Recluse is the oldest and most Western segment, giving the example of a woman in her 40s or 50s from the U.S. as a typical Recluse. The Recluse uses the handset simply as a phone and has no interest in using it for anything else -- or for paying any more money to do so.

The survey, conducted by Loudhouse Research, covered 4,100 mobile phone users in 16 countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, United States and United Kingdom.

David Needle is the West Coast bureau chief at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.