Local iPhone users devour content

Users are not only downloading more data than normal mobile web users –- who average 300Kb per session -– but they're also driving more page views per session than the average desktop user, according to Amethon CTO James Cleary.

“The average iPhone visitor is looking more deeply at sites and they're staying longer,” Cleary told the audience at last night's Mobile Mondays networking event in Sydney.

One reason for higher data consumption is that iPhone users are not accessing mobile-optimised sites, but rather the desktop versions of these pages, Cleary said.

Experiential factors may also be playing a part, as users demonstrate the iPhone's browsing capabilities to their friends.

Regardless, after the first month, iPhone browsing in Australia is growing by nine per cent per day in page views.

By comparison, the mobile phone average is 1.7 percent per day, while the desktop average is 0.4 per cent.

“That's certainly not sustainable but it's a terrific launch. Not only are people buying iPhones but they're also using them,” said Cleary.

“The question is 'Is this a honey period?'. We'll keep track of this.”

The results provide one of the first real insights into Australian iPhone usage – although they only track browsing across mobile networks, not including Wi-Fi.

The company also plans to start tracking usage of iPhone Apps in the future.

Amethon is a Sydney-based developer of mobile analytics software used by mobile service operators and content publishers 'to manage, monitor, measure and monetise mobile content traffic'.

It has 10 staff, including three developers in Melbourne, and has received two rounds of venture funding to date.

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