Entertainment Drives Mobile Internet Growth In BRIC Countries

San Francisco, CA, August 2008- Research from The Nielsen Company shows that entertainment-themed websites are the most popular with mobile Internet users in the growing Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) mobile markets. This stands in stark contrast with the more mature American and European markets, where information and news draw the most mobile Internet browsers.

According to a new report out today from Nielsen, entertainment, gaming, and music websites rank among the top 5 categories visited in all four BRIC countries, but do not have a place among the top US and Europe rankings. (See Table “Top Mobile Internet Website Categories – BRIC, US, Europe” in Full PDF Download version of release).

Email, weather, news, and search are the top categories for both American and European mobile Internet users; in the US, entertainment, music, and games place eighth, ninth, and tenth respectively. The findings suggest that mobile Internet users across BRIC countries are more reliant on mobile phones to provide them with entertainment content, while users across the United States and Europe view their devices as a resource for information.

“In the U.S. and Europe, broad access to media and entertainment has been available for decades through a large fixed distribution infrastructure, and more recently in specialized devices like iPods, to meet consumer’s entertainment needs,” said Jeff Herrmann, vice president of mobile media at Nielsen. “Users in the growing Brazil, Russia, India, and China markets haven’t had the benefit of broad-based content distribution thereby limiting their exposure, and are filling the service gap by embracing mobile’s transition into a personal entertainment platform.”

The data comes from the Mobile Media Marketplace report released by Nielsen. Nielsen now measures mobile behavior in BRIC countries to provide a consistent global view of mobile market development and the growth of mobile media consumption.

The research also reveals that mobile Internet continues to gain traction worldwide. More than 11% of Russian mobile users have accessed the Internet on their mobile device, trailing only the US, UK and Italy. (See table “Mobile Internet Penetration Across Countries” in Full PDF Download version of release.)

At 6.8%, China’s mobile Internet penetration is on par with Germany’s, and although Brazil and India trail the rest of the pack, penetration in the two countries is an important first step towards wider adoption.

“Mobile fills an important access gap in nations where Internet access is not always readily available in homes and schools,” said Herrmann. “The development and uptake of mobile data services will have a tremendous positive impact on economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China.”

Nielsen’s Mobile Media Marketplace and Mobile Device Insights reports are now available for BRIC countries. The reports provide a tremendous opportunity for marketers to establish a relationship with their consumers at the point of consumption.