Australian consumers demand always-on connectivity

MEDIA RELEASE
11 January 2007

Ericsson concludes Australian consumers demand always-on connectivity and contactability

Today Ericsson Australia released its comprehensive Consumer Lab survey that explores Australian consumer usage patterns and their willingness for new IT and telecommunications services. The study surveyed over 2000 Australians, representing a metropolitan population aged 15-64. This study complements Ericsson’s global Consumer Lab program which provides insight to a representative sample of two billion consumers.

Mahssa Hosseini, Strategic Marketing Manager for Ericsson Australia, said that the Australian survey demonstrates a significant increase in the importance of an always-on internet connectivity. Furthermore, people increasingly expect to be contactable wherever they are.

Ms. Hosseini added: “41% of those surveyed in Australia said it is important to be able to access the Internet wherever they are, compared to only 27% in 2004. Also, 60% surveyed this year said it is important to be contactable wherever they are, compared to 55% in 2004.”

The Ericsson study, which examines usage patterns as well as levels of interest in services, shows that Internet usage is now a part of everyday life. The results demonstrate that 88% of all respondents have access to the Internet at home. Furthermore, 95% of internet users use the Internet to send personal emails. Other commonly used services include: information searches, work and business activities, instant messaging and music and film downloads.

Ericsson concludes that consumers are adopting a diverse range of traditional and new digital media across multiple devices and access technologies. Of those surveyed, Australians show various degrees of interest towards different media and entertainment; 65% of respondents are interested in news, followed closely by 59% in music, 41% in sports and 27% in gaming.

Music Services Highlights

The Ericsson survey also examined Internet usage patterns around music consumption. For example, 61% of respondents said that they obtained music for free from the Internet while only 38% said that they buy it from an Internet store. Interestingly, 52% of respondents said that they shared music for free with their friends.

Ericsson believes the popularity of music will only increase in importance for the telecommunications and music industries.

“The mobile channel is also becoming important for marketing, promotion, sales and distribution for the entire music industry,” said newly appointed New Media Manager for Ericsson, Daniel Segal.

Mobile Services Highlights

Compared to other western countries, Australia ranked ahead of the UK and the USA in terms of interest in new mobile services. Swedish and Japanese users continue to lead the world in their interest in new services.

The services Australians identified as the top three most interesting were positioning services, like GPS, followed by email and browsing the Internet. In terms of actual usage though, 21% of respondents ranked browsing the internet ahead of other services, such as using email (17%), information updates (13%) and music download services (10%).

Background

The full Consumer Lab results are shared with Ericsson customers around the world through Ericsson’s Advisory services. Ericsson has delivered more than 300 business-consulting projects in market and service launch strategies in over 60 countries worldwide.

Consumer Lab Segmentation Methodology
Ericsson Consumer Lab applies a values-based segmentation methodology that is based on understanding consumer values, attitudes to technology and life stages in order to predict behavior. Consumer Lab uses this comprehensive segmentation methodology as a basis for developing strategies designed to target end users that are most likely to adopt and use new services.

Consumer Lab has been researching end users since 1995. At a global level Ericsson interviews a representative sample of two billion consumers, aged 15 to 64, in 10 countries (including China, Japan, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Sweden, USA and Canada).

In Australia, Ericsson has surveyed the population since 1999, allowing the company to determine shifts in end-user preferences and compare results to the global market.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

Read more and download report at http://www.ericsson.com/au/ericsson/press/2006/20070111_consumer_lab.shtml

ENDS

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