Australian mobile users more sophisticated than US or UK counterparts, says Google Australia

23% of Australians would rather give up their TV than their smartphone, according to new figures about consumers’ smartphone usage released today by internet search giant Google.

According to a study conducted with IPSOS Media CT, Australia has one of the highest rates of smartphone adoption in the world. Australia’s smartphone penetration is now 52%, a significant increase from last year’s figure of 37%.

Jason Pellegrino, Google Australia’s head of mobile ads told Mumbrella that “The year of mobile has already happened. If mobile strategy isn’t being considered by the CEO or at board level, you’re already behind the 8-ball.”

Pellegrino said: “Often in digital we look to learnings and case studies from the UK or US to inform the way we do things in Australia. But we don’t have that option with mobile – Australians are actually more advanced in the way they use their smartphones than our counterparts overseas,”

28% of those surveyed have bought a product on their smartphone. 24% of Australians smartphone users take their phones with them when shopping to research products, and 22% of them change their minds while in-store about a purchase after completing a mobile search, compared to 17% of UK smartphone shoppers.

Pellegrino said the two key trends in the Australian market are the lack of understanding around mobile integration with other communication channels – for example 57% of smartphone users actively searched on their mobile device after seeing an ad on TV.

Another issue, according to Pellegrino, is that those agencies and clients who do have a sense of how mobile integrates with other messaging activity, have a “surprising lack of urgency” around the move to mobile compatible platforms, preferring to “wait for the perfect solution in six to nine months time, rather than implementing interim measures straight away,” even though according to Google’s data, 61% of mobile users surveyed said they were unlikely to return to a site that they had trouble accessing from their phone.

The study was carried by IPSOS Media CT out on 1000 Australian smartphone users who used a smartphone to access the Internet, and distribution was according to a national representative Computer Aided Telephone Interview (CATI) Study.

via Mumbrella