The latest European Mobile Consumer Briefing report from the Mobile Marketing Association and Lightspeed Research has found that 30% of mobile phone users across the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands have downloaded at least one application onto their current mobile phone. (It's a lower figure than the USA, where 42% of mobile consumers recently claimed to have downloaded apps). 8% of European users say they've downloaded at least 10 mobile apps.

A third (33%) of mobile consumers in the four European markets surveyed said they expected to download the same number of applications next year as in 2010, with 16% planning to download more.

58% of people who downloaded an application said their most-used app was for 'providing entertainment' – also the top category in the USA – while 40% chose an app that delivered 'news and current information'.

On average, almost a fifth (19%) of mobile consumers use an app every day. The US figure was 25%.

Dr Peter A Johnson, VP of Market Intelligence for the MMA, said "Consumers are more than ever looking for their phones to provide an enriched experience above and beyond just texting and calling. Mobile applications enable them to customise their phones, providing them with numerous possibilities for entertainment, information gathering, managing day to day tasks and social interaction. For marketers, this means that apps represent a significant opportunity to create a permanent brand presence on a target consumer’s handset. However, to really capitalise on this opportunity, marketers must focus on not just getting their app downloaded, but on making it a part of the consumer’s daily life by creating something that is compelling, entertaining and useful while on the go."