Nearly half of smartphone users say they have already, or soon will, use their phones to do mobile shopping, and 53 percent also use, or intend to use their smartphones for mobile banking, according to a new survey of 2000 consumer technology users in the US.A senior analyst at ABI Research, which conducted the study, said there are indications that mobile commerce is finally achieving mass market appeal in the US because of its widespread use among even those with non-smart mobile phones.

Mark Beccue from ABI, said: “These are very exciting findings for merchants and service providers promoting mobile commerce,” says senior analyst Mark Beccue.  “It’s not just smartphone owners: non-smartphone mobile users’ interest in mobile banking and commerce services is also on the rise, with 17 percent of non-smartphone users surveyed using or intending to use mobile banking services.”

“These findings are part of a larger picture which quantifies smartphone users’ consistently higher use of a wide range of activities and features, from mobile browsing through multimedia to navigation,” notes primary research director Janet Wise. “Smartphone users behave differently. They score higher for all these activities ‘because they can’ (their devices are capable), and also because they have the money, resources, and time to do all these things.”

Among other trends identified, advertising is also said to be a growing attraction for mobile phone users. Mobile market strategies practice director Neil Strother said: “About one third of smartphone owners surveyed … have clicked on at least one mobile advertisement.”

ABI Research’s “Consumer Technology Barometer: Mobile (Q3 2010)” was also conducted to provide dynamic insight into the constantly changing US consumer mobility market. In addition to phones, it analyses consumers’ use of MP3 or portable media players, satellite radios, standalone digital cameras, digital camcorders/video recorders and portable video game devices.