Google and MMA team up to reveal smartphone usage stats

Includes data on how often consumers are using their smartphones as in-store shopping aids.

Google and the Mobile Marketing Association have published selected results from a survey of thousands of smartphone users, which show how people are using their handsets - and how businesses are responding.

53% of US smartphone users go online using their devices several times a day, behind only Japan (68%), but ahead of the UK (49%), France (47%) and Germany (42%).

The survey found big numbers of people looking for local information on their phones - 90% in the US, 87% in the UK and around the 80% mark for the other countries - and also discovered that mobile use in shops is gaining ground.

Well, it's hugely popular in the US, with 82% using their smartphones in a store. France has the same percentage, interestingly, with Japan on 75%, UK on 68% and Germany on 65%. Google found that 29% of US smartphone users and 28% of US / German smartphone users have actually bought things on their phones.

The downside: businesses are still catching on to the idea of having their own mobile-optimised sites and apps. 43% of Japanese businesses have a mobile site, but that falls to 37% in Germany, 33% in the US, 17% in the UK and 12% in France.