In Nigeria, South Africa and Indonesia, more than 90 percent of 18- to 27-year-olds use mobile phones as their primary means to access the Internet, even though smartphones aren't widely used, according to a survey by Norwegian browser company Opera Software.

The survey was displayed to Opera Mini browser users on their handsets and Opera collected 300,000 responses. The results challenge the long-standing belief that smartphone uptake will be the major driver of mobile web usage globally, according to Opera.

Also, the countries with the highest percentage of respondents using desktop or laptop computers as the primary means of Internet access were countries where smartphones are more common among the top handsets used, including the U.S. and Germany, where the split between phone and laptop or desktop is about fifty-fifty.

In October, the most popular phone among U.S. and German Opera Mini users was the iPhone, but in India and Nigeria it was Nokia's 5130 XpressMusic, according to Opera.

That users in developing countries choose feature phones over smartphones and access the Internet is not necessarily a voluntary choice, because the lack of fixed Internet infrastructure and the fact that people can't afford the iPhone 4 or the latest high-end Android-based smartphone.

But the results show that there is a need for a good browsing experience on feature phones as well, according to Opera. And the company isn't alone in thinking that. Opera signed a deal in April with Vodafone to use the Mini browser to push Web browsing in emerging markets. Also, Nokia acquired Novarra with the same intent.

At the same time, the phone market is changing rapidly, with the emergence of smartphones at increasingly lower prices, according to Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. The arrival of 3G phones based on MediaTek's Android-based platform next year will help push prices down further, she said.

However, the lower price sometimes also comes with a compromised product, with smaller screens and touchscreens that aren't as good as those found on a more expensive phone. So it's not certain that consumers in developing countries will pick less expensive smartphones, she said.

Here I go again ... using Posterous as a bookmarking aid.

The number of U.S. adults who own mobile phones dropped markedly in 2010, falling to 74%, down from 85% in 2009. However, smartphone sales bucked the trend. About 20% of all U.S. adults now tote a smartphone, as do 27% of mobile phone owners. With about one in five consumers now using mobile banking, financial institutions must understand the mobile marketplace and deploy mobile‐banking platforms to serve customers who increasingly are choosing banks based on their mobile‐banking capabilities. Because only 18 of the top 40 U.S. banks now offer mobile banking, the time has come for financial institutions (FIs) to develop, improve upon, and deploy effective mobile‐banking strategies and solutions. Javelin’s “triple play” approach provides actionable steps that financial institutions can follow to increase mobile‐banking adoption and capitalize on the growing smartphone, “mobile‐banking friendly” segment.

Javelin analyzes the demographics and behaviors of mobile‐banking customers, mobile banking and smartphone adoption rates, mobile device offerings, carrier and model penetration, along with survey data that describes what consumers want and how they bank via mobile device. This report identifies key consumer segments to target, the most effective approach for reaching customers, and the features

Primary Questions:

• What does the mobile marketplace look like?
• What are the current adoption rates for mobile penetration, mobile banking, and both smartphone and feature phones?
• How does security factor into mobile banking?
• What do typical mobile bankers look like, and how do they behave?
• What is the best method to reach consumers on their mobile devices?
• How do different smartphones and their owners compare?
• Which smartphones are most used for mobile banking?
• Which carriers have the largest market share?
• What features and mobile capabilities do consumers desire?
• How should FIs prepare for the future of mobile banking?

I don't have access to the report... but I would venture a guess and say that some of the data presented in this report may help you decide as a Financial Institution how much weight (as part of your mobile strategy) you place on SMS Banking (or Text Banking) versus mobile browser and native applications.

I have more thoughts on this and I will expand on this any more topics related to mobile financial services over at the Mobile Strategy Blog (http://m-strat.org).

Be well!