iPod Usage Marches on as Devices Record Rise in March

iPod/iPhone usage among Manhattan's mobile media consumers captured 42% of the total mobile media consumption during the month of March 2010. The last time this blog reported monthly numbers -- back in October 2009 - "only" 39 percent of Gotham commuters on the city's R, N or W lines (from 60th Street/Third Ave to the 55th St. Station). Other media posting gains from last year included magazines, jumping from 6% to 8% in March; and Blackberries, inching up to 6% of total mobile media consumption from 5%. Surprisingly, dedicated e-readers held steady at just 1% of total mobile media consumption. Almost all e-reader activity was spotted during the evening commute. iPods/iPhones garnered a whopping 48% of all mobile media consumption during the evening rush hour in March. Newspaper reading was especially strong in the morning (natch), with twice as many mobile media consumers reading a paper in the morning compared to the evening.

Here are the overall stats for the month:

iPods/iPhones 42%
Newspapers 23%
Books 20%
Magazines 8%
Blackberries 6%
Dedicated E-Readers 1%

(We've dropped our coverage of videogames. We're seeing too many instances of users playing games on other devices.)

Here Comes the E-Reader (Week of March 15, 2010)

This week marked the biggest jump in e-reader usage I have seen on my subway commute. Altogether, 4% of the week's entire mobile media consumption I witnessed involved e-readers. (No, I did not note if they were Kindles or Nooks or the Sony Reader.) But all of it took place in the afternoon....although I would definitely hesitate about drawing any conclusions about that. I guess it's worth noting at this point that when I mention books, I mean the paper kind.

So here's how the total breaks stand for the week:

iPhone/iPods 39%
Newspaper 23%
Books 18%
Magazines 9%
Blackberry 7%
E-Reader 4%

Post for Week of March 8, 2010

New week. Same story. i-devices continued to captured almost 50% of total mobile media consumption on the R, N and W lines in Manhattan (where I travel). During the afternoon commute, i-usage peaked at a whopping 49%. In the morning, it was "merely" 40%. Newspaper consumption remains big in the morning, ranked second only to i-devices. Magazines posted a paltry 5% of all media consumption in the morning, but the number doubled in the afternoon. I did not see a single e-reader during this week. Everyone must be waiting until the April 3 debut of the iPad.

Here are the total breaks:

iPhone/iPod 44%
Books 18%
Newspaper 17%
Magazines 10%
Blackberry 6%

I'm Back....Mobile Media Consumption for the Week of March 1, 2010

It's been many months since I've posted an entry in this blog and the world has shifted somewhat. Apple announced the iPad (will people take it on a subway? is it too delicate?) E-reading has become the talk of the media industry. But here in mobile media consumption land, things are pretty much the same. No significant shifts in mobile media consumption in the N and R subway routes from Queens to Manhattan. So here are some of the trends from the first week of March. By the way, I've dropped the video game category. I've seen a lot of video game playing....but it's mainly on smartphones. I think the dedicated portable video game player will become obsolete as game playing migrates to more multi-functional devices. The big surprise was that I thought dedicated e-reader usage (like a Kindle, Nook, etc.) would be higher reflecting the surge in e-reader purchases over the Christmas holidays. Didn't happen, at least in the first week of March. Newspaper consumption netted 30% of mobile consumption in the morning. Blackberry usage hovers at about 5-7% in both the morning and afternoon commutes, but that's probably because you can't get a signal at this portion of the N and R lines. Here are the overall breaks for the week in morning and afternoon mobile media consumption:

iPod/iPhone 45%
Book 23%
Newspaper 23%
Blackberry 6%
Magazine 4%
E-Reader 1%