SMS or 'text' messaging remains the most popular service for mobile phone users in the Asia Pacific despite offers for fancier applications such as email and gaming, an IDC survey, quoted by AFP said.
The IDC survey showed that less than 10% of mobile phone users are utilizing services other than SMS, the report said.
There had been hype that the humble SMS would be eclipsed by its more advanced cousins following the emergence of 3G mobile phones and more advanced content applications, the report said
But IDC said that the 'latest findings reveal that, despite the proliferation of content-rich mobile data services, the adoption of advanced services such as mobile phone payment, online mobile gaming and mobile email have yet to reach noteworthy levels of usage,' the AFP report said.
IDC's survey covered 4,056 urban Internet users in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, the report said.
SMS remains the most popular mobile data application, with 65% of the users sending text messages every day, IDC further said.