Despite the widespread popularity of text messaging among young adults under 30 (67% use the function), a surprisingly high number of people under 30 also would like to have e-mail capability on their wireless handset. According to new research from Sprint, 29% of people under 30 who are also large consumers of other data applications, such as texting and sending photos, would like to have the ability to send e-mail from their mobile phone.

“We’re seeing an increase in the number of people who want e-mail capability on their phone, as well as an increase in the number of people who already use it,” said Kim Dixon, senior vice president of retail for Sprint. “Our research shows that 55 percent of the young adults under 30 (who are the largest consumers of text messaging and photo sending functions) currently use e-mail on their mobile phone – a figure that has more than tripled since 2006.”*

Why the increase in popularity? More than half of survey respondents under 30 think that having e-mail capability on their phone does or would help them stay in touch with friends and family. Those under 30 also were more likely to agree (40 percent) that having e-mail capability on their phone does or would help them get more done each day.

“While people clearly understand the value of having e-mail access on their mobile device, we’ve found they also perceive it as one of the most difficult functions to use,” said Dixon. “In fact, nearly one in four respondents (22 percent) across all groups said they have never tried to activate their phone’s e-mail capability because it was ‘too difficult’ to figure out. Most surprising, however, is that the youngest age group, 18-24, which we typically assume is the most tech-savvy, was twice as likely as someone over 30 to have tried to activate the e-mail function on their mobile phone but couldn’t successfully complete the task.”