Mobile phones are found all around the world — ubiquitous even in emerging markets such as China and India — but how you use the device depends greatly on where you live.

In a new report entitled "The Mobile Consumer: A Global Snapshot," research company Nielsen looked at consumer behavior, device preference and usage in 10 different countries, including the U.S., UK, Australia, China, India and South Korea.

Nielsen concluded that "usage differs significantly by market and demographic groups."

For example, the majority of mobile consumers in developed markets — such as South Korea (67%), Australia (65%) and the UK (61%) — tend to prefer smartphones. Basic feature phones, on the other hand, are more commonly used in India (80%), Turkey (61%) and Russia (51%). Mid-range multimedia phones, which have more capabilities than feature phones but less than smartphones, are least popular among users, with less than 10% usage in most countries (at 21%, Brazil boasts the highest percentage of multimedia-phone users among those examined in Neilsen's report).



For smartphone users, the types of apps used also differ between countries, though they all generally prefer games and social networking. Americans like to consult maps and browse social networks, while Chinese users enjoy playing games and are more likely to access news and weather updates on their mobile apps.



Nielsen is set to present some of its findings from "The Mobile Consumer" at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday.

What do you think of the report's results? Do they reflect your mobile-phone usage? Tell us in the comments, below.
































View the Original article