Can You Hear, Er, Read Me Now?

The New York Times just ran an article entitled, “Cellphones Now Used More for Data Than for Calls.” It’s a great piece and profiles some interesting situations and trends. Take, for instance, this Massachusetts Mom’s summary of her phone usage:

She taps out her grocery lists, records voice memos, listens to music at the gym, tracks her caloric intake and posts frequent updates to her Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The one thing she doesn’t use her cellphone for? Making calls.

“I probably only talk to someone verbally on it once a week,” said Mrs. Colburn, a 40-year-old marketing consultant in Canton, Mass., who has an iPhone.

Her limited voice usage shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone who is even mildly involved in the mobile industry. Everyday we are seeing new research reports that indicate all the different ways people are using phones other than voice. The NY Times article shared this snippet from CTIA:

The number of text messages sent per user increased by nearly 50 percent nationwide last year, according to CTIA, the wireless industry association. And for the first time in the United States, the amount of data in text, e-mail messages, streaming video, music and other services on mobile devices in 2009 surpassed the amount of voice data in cellphone calls, industry executives and analysts say.

And according to wireless analyst and industry expert Chetan Sharma:

The global wireless market banked $220 billion in mobile data revenues in 2010, accounting for an average 26% of total wireless revenues. That translates into $44.56 billion in data revenue for US carriers, with Japanese carriers putting a solid $32.5 billion on their books and China taking home $20.3 billion in data revenues alone. The US led this group as the fastest growing mobile data market in 2009.

So what does this all mean? Well, for starters, Verizon’s going to need to edit its “Can you hear me now” slogan. And beyond that, with devices like the iPad, Android, iPhone and others like them enticing consumers to embrace all that mobile can do, there are tremendous opportunities on the not-too-distant horizon.

Survey Says: Android!

FierceMobileContent’s Jason Ankeny reports that The Android has nudged the iPhone out of the #2 spot when it comes to purchases by US consumers:

Buoyed by strong consumer interest in devices like the Motorola Droid, Google’s Android mobile operating system now represents 28 percent of smartphone unit sales in the U.S.–behind only Research In Motion’s BlackBerry (36 percent) and moving past Apple’s iPhone (21 percent)–according to new data issued by market research firm NPD Group. Carrier distribution and promotion are critical to Android’s growth, NPD said: “In order to compete with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones,” said NPD executive director of industry analysis Ross Rubin in a prepared statement.

Interestingly enough, FierceMobileContent’s sister publication, FierceWireless ran a piece called “A problem? AT&T’s wireless network is the punchline” in which reporter Mike Dano talks about the public’s perception of AT&T service:

What I’m writing about is Americans’ perception of AT&T, and how the carrier is responding. Specifically, I’m writing about how late-night pundits including David Letterman, Jon Stewart of the “Daily Show” and “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update have made AT&T the butt of their jokes. If you haven’t seen these bits, let me summarize: The Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone would be a great device if not for AT&T’s shoddy service.

Hmmm… are these two articles a coincidence? Absolutely not. Thankfully consumers have options when it comes to smartphones because the possibilities they offer are endless, and it’d be a shame to see people get turned off to them because their service isn’t working. Hopefully AT&T will do what it takes to straighten things out, they clearly still have a great opportunity with the iPhone. But the clock is starting to tick, so they better get moving…