ComScore: Japanese mobile web usage far outstrips U.S.

Mobile subscribers in Japan are exponentially more connected to digital media than their counterparts across the globe: More than 75 percent of Japanese users accessed the mobile web, applications or downloaded content in June 2010, compared to 43.7 percent of users in the U.S. and 38.5 percent in Europe, according to a new study issued by market research firm comScore. Almost 60 percent of Japanese subscribers surfed the mobile web in June, contrasting with 34.0 percent of mobile users in the U.S. and 25.8 percent in Europe--in addition, 42.3 percent of Japanese subscribers accessed mobile apps, ahead of the U.S. (31.1 percent) and Europe (24.9 percent).

The international differences don't stop there. Text messaging is most popular among Europeans, with 81.7 percent of subscribers transmitting texts in June compared to 66.8 percent of U.S. subscribers and just 40.1 percent of Japanese users. Mobile email is most popular among Japanese subscribers at 54 percent, while mobile IM is most dominant among U.S. users at 17.2 percent. Other trends: Social networks and blogs attracted the greatest percentage of mobile users in the U.S. at 21.3 percent, trailed by Japan (17.0 percent) and Europe (14.7 percent). Japanese subscribers were most likely to capture photos (63.0 percent) and view TV/video (22.0 percent) via mobile device, and Europeans were most likely to listen to music (24.2 percent) and play games (24.1 percent).

For more on the comScore study:
- read this release

Related articles:
Android now 25 percent of mobile web use as iOS lead erodes
Nielsen: Email still dominates mobile web usage