Disqus
The Mobile Data Association (MDA) has made public a summary of its latest report on the texting habits of the UK population – saying we like messaging is a bit like saying ‘a fish is keen on water’, but perhaps we didn’t recognize the scale of it before (no pun intended)!
The continued growth of messaging is highlighted by a 2009 daily average of 265 million text messages and 1.6 million picture messages. 2009’s text message total was 96.8 billion, while over 600 million picture messages were sent across the whole year.
Seasonal drivers still appear to propel the use of Picture Messaging, with 4.5 million picture messages being sent on Christmas Day itself, while Network Operators’ figures also indicated an upturn in picture messaging during the recent cold snap.
Assessing the findings of the MDA’s report, Rob Bamforth, Principal Analyst at Quocirca, said: “New generation touchscreen handsets and the bundling of SMS messages into many tariffs has made texting easier, and seen its role develop. Now it is not only a convenient medium for a quick chat with friends, but also a way of participating in television voting and raising funds for needy charities. When a powerful call to action is given, the population of the UK often turn first towards their mobile phones.”
Steve Reynolds, MDA Chairman, said: “These statistics show that even with new social media forms of messaging such as Twitter and Facebook, people are using SMS as a social messaging tool because of its simplicity and ubiquity. There remains a significant and still developing role for text messaging. In a seemingly relentless tide of status updates, tweets and pokes, the UK population’s love affair with mobile messaging for instant, on-the-go communication continues to deepen.”
In case you love the detail, here are the Q4 2009 Statistical findings
Text Messaging (SMS)
Total number of text messages (SMS) sent in:
- 2009 total 96.8 billion
- 2008 total 78.9 billion
- 2007 total 56.9 billion
These SMS statistics can be broken down as follows in 2009:
- Year on year growth (2009 vs 2008): 23% growth
- Number of text messages sent per day: 265 million
Video and Picture messages (MMS)
Total number of picture messages (MMS) sent in:
- 2009 total 601 million
- 2008 total 553 million
- 2007 total 449 million
These statistics can be broken down as follows in 2009:
- Year on year growth (2009 vs 2008): 9% growth
- Number of MMS messages sent per day: 1.6 million
I think we all need a sit down with a nice cold drink after that veritable stat attack 
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
