Mobile phones on track to replace stereos for listening to music

Amongst this group, some 16 per cent of all music they listen to daily is on their phones, compared with 15 per cent on a hi-fi or stereo system at home and just 10 per cent on a personal digital music player, such as an iPod.

Across the 15 countries covered by the TNS study 13 per cent of all mobile users said that they use MP3 or digital music players on their phones daily or weekly. This rises to 18 per cent among mobile users in the UK and 26 per cent among users in South Korea. This high intensity of use bodes well for mobile music once MP3/digital music players become more widely available on handsets.

The TNS study shows that many customers who listen to music on their phone do so whilst at home in addition to 'on the go', with almost a quarter (23 per cent) who say they listen to music on their mobile 'in bed', 'at home at weekends' (21 per cent) and 'at home before and after work' (16 per cent). This is compared to nearly half (47 per cent) who listen to music on their mobiles on public transport, and 32 per cent 'while waiting for an appointment or meeting'.

As proof of the growing appetite for music on mobiles, more than a third (35 per cent) of phone users globally chose mobile music as one of the five applications they would like to start using, or use more of in the future. This puts mobile music in top place as the application with highest potential. This figure is highest amongst mobile users in South Korea (60 per cent), compared with nearly two out of five (39 per cent) users in the UK and just 19 per cent in the US.

Among those factors deterring mobile users from downloading more songs onto their phones are 'insufficient memory', 'poor quality' of the listening experience and 'transferring music from other devices is easier than downloading'.

Hanis Harun, Regional Director for Asia Pacific TNS Technology, comments: 'The TNS study confirms a significant interest in listening to music using mobile phones, with considerable potential for mobiles to take a greater share of the market in the future. Accessibility is still very much an issue, but usage, intensity and appeal are both high. Additionally mobile music appeals to a broad cross-section of consumers around the globe, with the main adoption drivers being lifestyle-related and a love for music.

'The pricing of downloads is still probably the greatest single barrier to encouraging more people to download and listen to songs on their phones. Other factors play a smaller part, including limitations of the capabilities of handsets and the time it takes to download. However, all the evidence points towards mobile music becoming increasingly competitive with personal digital music players such as iPods.'

Respondents also showed interest in either 'starting to use' or 'use more of' the following applications in the future: 'camera for photography' (34 per cent), 'SMS' (28 per cent), 'live radio' (25 per cent) and 'video camera' (24 per cent).