RSSAnalysts: Consumers, businesses want phones with more 'features'
By Jacqueline Emigh | Published August 21, 2008, 1:47 PM
Customers are now buying more costly cell phones with features such as GPS, Bluetooth, and music enablement, not just in the US but worldwide, according to recent research by two industry analyst firms.
According to a new study from analyst firm NPD, mobile handsets sold in the US during the second quarter of this year were, "by and large, more feature-rich than those sold the year prior." Meanwhile, demand is increasing throughout the world for handsets with features such as GPS, touchscreen, and multimedia, concurs a study by IDC released at the end of July.
Tracking retail sales only, the NPD Group reported this week that 28 million mobile handsets were sold in the US during the second quarter of 2008, a 13 percent drop since the same quarter the year before. Beyond that, the 28 million figure represented the third consecutive quarter of sales declines.
But US consumers paid an average price of $84 for new cell phones during the quarter, an increase of 14% over last year, says NPD.
Smartphone sales comprised 19% of total mobile phone sales, as opposed to 10% the year before. About 28% of handsets sold during the quarter had QWERTY keyboards, in comparison to 12% in 2007. A total of 81% of these phones were Bluetooth-enabled, in contrast to 69% last year; and 65% were music-enabled, rather than 45% in 2007.
Meanwhile, IDC -- which bases its numbers on manufacturers' shipment figures -- has reported shipment of 42.9 million phones to the US market for the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 6% over the same quarter in 2007. On a worldwide basis, manufacturers' shipments rose at almost the same margin, stepping up 5.6% to a total of 306 million phones for the second quarter of this year, according to IDC statistics.
Worldwide demand for features in phones is rising, IDC says. "This also goes for hotly contested emerging markets, where vendors are introducing phones that offer features in addition to voice telephony. Reception towards these devices has been warm, and as we head into the holiday quarter, demand for these and other devices will no doubt increase," according to Ramon T. Llamas, an IDC senior research analyst.
At the time of another IDC report issued just last April, Llamas had predicted that demand for low-cost phones without advanced features would continue through the end of 2008 in some emerging markets.
The new figures from IDC also suggest that, as unit sales to US retail outlets decline, sales of mobile phones to US businesses and government agencies could be on the uptick, helping to bridge the gap for vendors.
Success and change doesn't occur over time. I know its hard to believe but all the wish list items below are improving with every version. Take iPhone (orginal) and the iPhone 3g.
When was the last time we actually wrote or emailed our ISP/Telco/Cell Provider with our recommendations? You will be surprised but many companies do listen to their customer's wish list. I work in Sales / Marketing and I know our Fortune 100 company does listen to their customers.
Technology and improvements are occuring, sheeh why can't we be patience.
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|How about they just not make them proprietary pieces of garbage that I can plug into my computer and actually work with?
Note that a proprietary cable/software suck just as bad as not being compatible at all, although at least I can find the software online.
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|#1 - I love features, but the very most important thing to me is good clean connection and not dropping calls.
#2 - Bring us cool phones from Japan! Why do we have to wait so dam long for those phones?
#3 - I want a high-resolution camera in my cell phone that will also allow me to take videos. The camera must have support for micro-SDHC and must allow me to store photos and video on the external memory storage. Oh yeah, add some type of flash, even LED flash or illumination is better than nothing. I read where one over-paid USA cell company executive said that USA customer didn't want high-resolution cameras in their phones, well some one needs to fire that idiot!
#4 - Add a feature to automatically put the cell phone in vibrate mode while in movies and theaters. Create some type of new standard based upon bluetooth that all phones will listen and can't be disabled. All theaters and restaurants would buy devices that would search for devices and send the signal to them. We have the technology, so why don't you f-ing do something to automatically disable ringers in quiet areas!!!
#5 - When roaming or no signal, you need to still keep track of time and display it. Yeah, I know you are lazy and just pull the time from the cell tower, but heck it isn't that hard to keep a tick running when you lose a cell signal, and just put up some type of indicator about the time might not be accurate.
#6 - Mandatory in all phones: GPS with built-in maps for all major hiways like Interstates and State Hiways (it sucks when roaming and no signal and can't get a map), Bluetooth for headsets since more states are requiring handsoff while driving.
#7 - Add feature to all cell phones that would receive critical weather reports when extremely danger weather is near cell tower. Most everyone would like to know if a tornado or tidal wave is about ready to bury your ass, or a extremely dangerous chemical or radiation has been released in the air near by.
#8 - It would be nice to have universal portable applications and online application store...but that is a wish that likely will never happen across multiple brands of phones.
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|#2 - Japan's network and phones are nothing like the US (or any other country, AFAIK) so you'll be waiting a while. Their phones really are tailored made to their carriers, and running on their own custom mobile-Internet service that is now basically defunct with the advent of full-Internet phones like the iPhone.
#3 - already available, but it's a cost/size issue. You can't get a decent CCD or CMOS sensor inside your average mobile phone. Nor can you get a decent lens for the same reason.
#4 - that's just silly, IMO. Why force manufacturers to do this? Why not just throw popcorn at people who forget to silence their mobile phone? Most movie theatres I visit are concrete bunkers anyway, and you're lucky to get any phone reception. :p
#5 - I don't know of any phones that can't display the time without a signal...
#6 - or not. Why aren't people allowed to just buy phones? If you want a GPS phone, BUY a GPS phone. Don't make everyone buy one.
#8 - why would you want that kind of monopoly to exist? I thought we all liked choice. :p
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|This sounds like a study designed to support marketing department.
After all, as the cell markets are effectively saturated, the preponderance of their business is churn and selling new phones with - wait for it - NEW TRENDY FEATURES!
Yawn.
Next.
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|Count me as simply wanting reliability well before features. When I make or receive a call, it is of the utmost priority that that call be stable. That is why I have the device in the first place. I've seen people grumble about connectivity on iphone, and my Treo 700W has crashed the interface during a call numerous times, this simply should never happen. My treo once rang without an incoming call, until I reset the phone.
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|Cue the Palm-haters in three, two, one..
But really, these studies/surveys drive me batty. Find me a contract phone released in the last two years that doesn't have BT. And yes, people do want it (although I hate the sound you get from those earpieces - ugh). I can probably get a brand new phone on contract from all the major carriers that has BT and basic music playback - for free or very close to it. As the cost of the tech goes down, you always get features added. Thats how they maintain pricing levels. I will agree on the QUERTY factor, because once you've had it you don't wanna go back. The guy I know at the local AT&T store says all the kids want text-friendly devices. I'm seeing so many Q's in the hands of college kids around here its crazy.
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|I echo the same. I don't want new features on my phone, I want the existing core features to work better. Call quality, cell coverage, and battery life. All these new multimedia features and huge displays are just driving up the cost of phones and making it harder for people like me who just want a cell phone to use as a CELL PHONE, not a mp3 player, streaming video player, camera, etc.
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|I don't like Palm because I have supported them for 2+ years and find them craptastic. Yes it's anecdotal, and yes that is how I roll.
I don't use or recommend BT. You can put a laptop in a public square and bluesnarf conversations to disk and off you go, completely passive and undetectable (at least from the public.) BT = insecure protocol. We've also seen BT enabled mice interfere with cell reception and vice versa.
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|Just my thoughts too (about these type of phones becoming more of a commodity/common, rather than the user actually going after those features)
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