The leader in measuring the digital world, ComScore, Inc. on Thursday (March 26) released its first time study on iPhone users in the United Kingdom, finding that 93 per cent of iPhone owners accessed mobile media in January. The comScore study found that 75 per cent of British iPhone owners use mobile e-mail, which makes it the most popular type of mobile content accessed on the device.

Alistair Hill, the comScore analyst, observed, “Consumers are clearly embracing the iPhone’s touch screen keyboard. The penetration of e-mail usage on the iPhone is more than double that of the smartphone category as a whole. Over the past several quarters, the UK smartphone market has been dominated by the N95, which lacks a QWERTY keyboard. As a result, we see smartphone users favour using their device for music and photo messaging, two activities for which these Nokia devices are particularly well-suited, more than e-mail.”

According to the comScore study, nearly 80 per cent of UK iPhone owners accessed news and other information via a browser, four times the rate for all mobile phone users. The App Store is also extremely popular among iPhone owners, with 55.6 per cent accessing news and information via a downloaded application, compared with 22.1 per cent of smartphone owners, and 6.3 per cent of all mobile phone users. The iPhone has also provided a boost to the mobile games sector, with 37 per cent of iPhone owners downloading a game and 18.6 per cent purchasing one.  Only 5.6 per cent of smartphone owners and 2.7 percent of mobile phone users purchased a game in January.

The comScore study also determined the demographics of iPhone owners. It found that 75 percent of iPhone users are males, mostly between the ages of 18-44. Smartphone ownership also typically skews male in the UK, with males comprising 65 per cent of the audience.

Hill said, “The iPhone is indeed an early adopter phenomenon in the United Kingdom. While the device’s ease of use is certainly contributing to the lift we see in mobile media consumption, the fact that the device requires a subscription package that includes an unlimited data plan is also a contributing factor. However, it is also important to note that while nearly all iPhone owners are consuming mobile media, the device is in the hands of only two percent of mobile phone users in the UK.”

According to the comScore study, 55 percent of mobile media consumers are male, and 65 percent are between the ages of 18-44. Twenty-three per cent of mobile media users own a smartphone; and 3.5 percent, an iPhone.