Simon Vella has an excellent column over at Adweek:

The flurry of recent media announcements around mobile apps probably has you thinking this might be your easy marketing answer for 2010. Beware the hype, because beneath the excitement lies plenty of stats that show it's still a plaything compared to text messaging, which continues to deliver impressive year-over-year growth across all demographic groups.

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If we next look at usage, there are some telling statistics that again highlight why text messaging provides a better return when marketing to customers. In results released from its analytics platform in September 2009, Flurry showed that only one-quarter of iPhone apps are used more than 90 days after they are downloaded. So it's hardly representing value for money as a brand-building tool, either.

There is so much more to read, so head over to Adweek now!