Half of Video Phone Subscribers Never Use Video: Survey

By Allan Pulga

A recent Knowledge Networks study found that 50 per cent of video cellphone subscribers – and 30 per cent of video iPod owners – never use those devices for viewing video.

The study also showed that 88 per cent of people who download mobile video would watch a commercial in exchange for free content, and that laptop computers are actually the most commonly used devices for viewing mobile video.

The survey, entitled How People Use Mobile Video, asked people:

• where they use mobile video,
• what sources of video they rely on,
• how satisfied they are with mobile video devices, and
• how they perceive mobile video will affect regular TV viewing.

The study concluded that consumers are usually not purchasing video cellphones or iPods for their mobile video capabilities. Knowledge Networks projects that only 3 per cent of the 13-54 broadband population (whom they normally consider to be “technology oriented”) actually watch video on cellphones or iPods.

Of respondents that subscribe to one of the three major video service providers for cellphones – paying extra to have mobile video available to them – only 50 per cent are actually using that capability.

By contrast, the proportion of laptop video users projected to the 13-54 broadband population is closer to 17 per cent.

“The buzz in mobile video may be around iPods and video cellphones, but laptops are actually trumping those super-small screens when it comes to real-world usage today,” said David Tice, vice-president of client service at Knowledge Networks.

“Even among those who have gone out of their way to obtain mobile video service, use of this capability is still not prevalent. This suggests that either consumers do not really have the time for viewing mobile video, or comfort with the technology is still embryonic among early adopters, not to mention mainstreamers.”