This report summarizes findings from a survey of 246 Singaporean youth about their mobile phone usage and application behaviors. Key findings include: - The iPhone is the most popular brand across occupations and age groups. - Most users have access to application stores and visit them frequently, especially iPhone users. - Females are more likely than males to pay for apps. - Facebook is the most popular app, followed by chat and games apps. - Location-based apps and secure purchasing apps are emerging trends. The report recommends focusing app development on social media, games, and secure/privacy-focused apps to meet emerging needs and preferences. It also suggests leveraging popular platforms like Facebook and exploring opportunities in

1. CORPORATE DIGITAL
RESEARCH REPORT
MOBILE APPLICATIONS

2. AGENDA
Find out how companies
- Advertisers / Developers / Phone Makers -
can use mobile applications
in their corporate communication challenge
1st : To understand
2nd : To apply

3. Mobile Usage in Singapore
Introduction / Background
This introductory study aims to understand how
Singaporean youths utilize mobile technology
By providing insight on the following:
Internet penetration on mobiles
Application download, purchase, usage behaviors
Social Media usage on the different mobile platforms
We will follow our observations to recommendations to the 3 most relevant business
stakeholders for mobile technology advancement
Advertisers
Developers
Businesses in general

4. 246 people, between the age of
DEMOGRAPHICS 16 to 35, were surveyed.
OCCUPATION BRAND
Banking Apple
Hospitality BlackBerry
Education HTC
Health LG
Student Motorola
Unemployed Nokia
Others Samsung
Sony Ericsson
Others
80
QWERTY keyboard
Supports Internet 80
Email Funtionality
60
None of the above
Yes 60
No
40
40
20 20
GPRS
3G 0
0
WiFi
FEATURES IN PHONE HAS INTERNET? MEANS TO INTERNET?
Hyperlink to survey: http://smusg.qualtrics.com/CP/Report.php?SV=Prod&RP=RP_0P5xwTRau0En6q8

5. OCCUPATION BASED FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings:
Majority of sample population are students
The most saturated brand -> iPhone across all job categories
Cross tabulations:
Brand:
Across each occupation the iPhone is the most frequently used hand-set
(except for hospitality industry – Sony 66.67% of users).
Internet Access:
According to the survey 76.76% of participants said that their phone supported
Internet access.
Application Stores:
On average 56.51% of respondents said that their phone has an application
store.

6. AGE BASED FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings:
Assumption that the older the age group, the more they earn holds true
The older/richer users are more likely to download paid apps
However, as income grows, the spend on applications is less
The frequency of application store access increases with the age group and
income
There is no correlation between the brand of phone and age of users
Recommendations:
Developers:
Can gain revenues from creating paid apps or premium versions for adults,
especially those who are working.
Expensive applications should be targeted towards the younger age groups. A
reasonable cause for younger youths splurging more on paid applications could
be due to status-chase or “scarcity effects” - since paid applications require
credit cards and permission, the ability to have paid applications may cause
younger youths to feel more unique (analogy to buying alcohol over 18)

7. GENDER BASED FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings:
Most smart phone users (male and female) have access to application stores:
75.5% of males and 76.9% of females
Gender-based application store behavior:
While males tend to download more paid applications
(44.1% as compared to 28.3% for females),
90.3% of males spend less than $5 per month
(as compared to 76.5% for females) on apps.
A considerable proportion of males (44.1%) are able to download paid
applications for free while 17.6% of women are able to do so.
Males are therefore more likely to respond and purchase paid applications
only if they are cheap. Women, as most of them are unable to download paid
applications for free, are more likely to rely on free apps or to selectively
pay for apps known to be worth purchasing.

8. GENDER BASED FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations:
All clients:
Important to recognize the marketing potential of applications. This is
supported by the high numbers of smart phone users having access to
application stores and increasing number of smartphone users.
Businesses:
A low price tag remains the primary deciding factor as to whether or not
both gender groups will purchase an app.
Developers:
As women are more likely to spend more on apps and are less likely to
obtain paid applications for free, creating paid apps targeted at females is
an avenue worth exploring.

9. INCOME BASED FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings:
Of the 246 people, 87% have an income of SGD$3000 and below
Income does not contribute to brand preference
Spending on applications is also independent of income
More people were more willing to make online purchases as compared to
iBanking
Recommendations:
Phone Companies:
Price would not be the best differentiator in Singapore because consumers would
not necessarily choose the cheapest or cost-effective option. Brand or status
factors appear to be at play.
Advertisers:
Regardless of income group, mobile applications do not appear to be the best
avenue for advertising, unless they sponsor applications that consumers can
download for free.

10. BRAND BASED FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings:
Mobile internet access is: High
Lowest (LG - 44.4%), Highest (97.4% - Apple)
Application store behavior:
Most brands have majority of users utilizing an application store
iPhone users are by far the most frequent users of their application store
(34% visiting >15 times a month)
The majority of Singaporeans would prefer free applications
(with iPhone users being the most willing to pay for a Paid App – 54%)
Recommendations:
Developers:
The iPhone platform is the most attractive for application releases, due to high
usage (both visits and downloads) and willingness amongst users to pay for
applications.
Businesses:
If they wish to create applications for their business, the applications should be
free or premium based.

11. PHONE & INTERNET
BASED FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings:
Usage
Smartphones (54%), Internet access (77%)
Sources of Internet: GPRS (39%), 3G (79%), WiFi (70%)
Recommendations:
Telcos:
Establish and develop 3G plans that cater to different needs and
markets. Vendor smartphones that boast downloadable applications,
3G & WiFi features
Developers:
Possibility of applications that rely on the Internet for functions. This
enables realtime updates, in-app purchases, etc.
Advertisers:
Can deploy ads in applications found in application stores of high usage
brands such as Apple & Nokia.
Phone companies:
Internet based phones are the future

12. TOP 5 APPLICATIONS
Findings:
Facebook is the top application (29.4%) adopted by smartphone users.
This is followed by chat applications (17.2%) such as MSN and Meebo.
Games (15.6%), camera functions (10.6%) and email assume the third,
fourth and fifth positions respectively (8.9%).
Recommendations:
Phone Companies:
Leverage on Facebook’s popularity on the mobile and take advantage its
influence both as an application and component of smartphones.
Developers:
Smartphone users are widely responsive to chat applications, hence
developers may look into further exploring this option.
Businesses/Developers/Phone Companies:
Social media applications are the most marketable, taking the bulk of top
applications adopted by smartphone users. Hence, clients may exploit
this knowledge and venture accordingly, making social media applications
a key feature.
Games, camera and email functions remain as vital components of smart
phones and must continue to be included.

13. FUTURE TRENDS BASED FINDINGS/RECOMMENDATIONS
New Trends being adopted
Internet-banking:
In general, smartphone users of all smartphone brands are still apprehensive
(none reached 50% approval rating)
Location-based technologies:
Two-thirds of smartphone users are still insecure about revealing their location.
Secure purchases:
Most smartphone users are ready & calling for an advancement in this direction
On Secure Purchases
Developers:
Should begin proposing to businesses that a smartphone application could help
them.
Businesses:
Should begin developing applications to engage and capture this new retail
channel

14. DREAM APPLICATIONS
Live
Trading & Stocks
Online Purchases Drama Series
App
App
Security
Multitasking Location Tracker
App App
eBooks
All-in-One
Movie S.N.S
App App
Time Machine
(system restore)
Mobile Wallet Phone Banking
App App
MS Office/iWork

15. CONCLUSION
Applications of these data, finding and
recommendations...
- Internet based applications with social media
functions is the present & future of mobile
platforms -
Using the dream applications as a “scope” to what might be developed, security/privacy apps
may be the next top download. Users are also using their smartphones for functionalities
above calling and messages, and this may call for apps that sync or back up important
information through an internet storage. eBooks, education, live trading through internet
platforms such as twitter (offering real time news from your brokers), are all possible future
applications on the mobile. The list upwards is long, but the groundworks have been
revealed.