The table illustrates the proportions of mobile phone users who utilized various handset features over a four-year period from 2006 to 2010.
Overall, making calls remained the most universal function throughout the period, despite a marginal decline. Conversely, newer multimedia features like internet browsing and video recording saw the most dramatic growth, while more traditional tasks like texting and taking photos experienced steady increases.
In terms of the most established features, making phone calls was the primary use for nearly all owners, starting at 100% in 2006 and ending at 99% in 2010. Similarly, the popularity of sending and receiving text messages grew incrementally from 73% to 79%. Taking photos followed a comparable upward trend, rising from approximately two-thirds of users (66%) to just over three-quarters (76%) by the end of the period.
Regarding entertainment and data-heavy features, the most significant surge was seen in internet usage. While no data was recorded for 2006, the figure for searching the internet jumped from 41% in 2008 to 73% in 2010. Video recording also saw a sharp spike, nearly quadrupling from 9% to 35% in just two years. Meanwhile, the percentage of people playing games more than doubled from 17% in 2006 to 41% in 2010, though this growth largely plateaued after 2008. Finally, playing music showed a consistent rise, ending the period at 26%.