UK smartphone market growth stalls
Potential upgraders not being persuaded to do so
Persuading punters to upgrade from ordinary handsets to smartphone is seen as the next big opportunity for phone makers and network operators. The bad news, according to UK pollster YouGov, is that there's no well marked interest in doing so.
In Q2 2011, UK smartphone ownership reached 35 per cent of adults with phones, what it was in Q1 2011 and only barely up on Q4 2010's 33 per cent.
Half of the folks who currently own an ordinary phone said they'll go for the same type when they upgrade. Only 34 per cent said they will shift up to a smartphone. The remaining 16 per cent didn't know one way or t'other.
Only 14 per cent of smartphone owners are over the age of 55, though almost a half of non-smartphone owners - 48 per cent - are 55 or up. Only 41 per cent of smartphone owners are women.
YouGov reckons the industry is missing a trick by not addressing these groups. Brand matters. "Half of BlackBerry sales made to adults are to women," YouGov said. "Apple and Samsung also beat the industry average.
"At the other end of the scale, HTC and Nokia are brands that appeal significantly more to men than women."
That said, Apple is the brand punters are most likely to adopt, with 31 per cent saying that's the label they'll go for when they get their next phone.
BlackBerry came second, chosen by 21 per cent of respondents, followed by HTC (18 per cent), Samsung (13 per cent), Nokia (11 per cent), Sony Ericsson (five per cent) and all the rest combined (one per cent). ®
COMMENTS
Smartphone not far all
Everyone doesn't need or want a smartphone, does the industry not realise this?
The battery will never be as good as the tech in them requires so much more juice, and some people just plain hate all the extra stuff - they just want a phone with buttons on it to make calls and texts.
How to get better market peneration....
Reduce data charges. That's what puts me off (and I work with the damn things every day).
Sure, it'll be great to have net access at you finger tips, but not at the current prices.
And also - get battery life up there with good candy bars (not actually possible though, although Nokia are pretty good.).
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My touchscreen Samsung has Opera and email and Google maps and a FaceBook app, but isnt a smartphone. Yes I'm tempted by all the Android/Apple apps, but a phone screen is either too small for reading large amounts of data, or its too big for carrying in your trouser pocket and I dont want to walk with a limp. And if it doesnt fit in my pocket, then its not going to be mobile. And seriously, who wants to be tied to a charger every night? I did consider an Android last year when I bought my current phone, but it's nice not to run out of juice by 6pm every day, mine is more like every 5 days. Only when they can fix that will I consider a smartphone next time I upgrade.
Why I'm sticking with a candybar for now
* I don't want an undersized tablet, I want a compact phone (why the eternal push to bigger and bigger?!)
* I don't want a compact budget phone to have such a tiny screen, crappy resolution or naff touchscreen tech to present problems with my chipolata fingers
* I don't want a small smartphone to be compromised with a crappy ARMv6 processor (seems to be an assumption that people wanting a small phone aren't bothered)
* Camera needs to be at least as good as my current one; HTC generally fail on this, even if the megapixels are nominally "better"
* Battery life - need I say more?
Sony Xperia Ray is looking good at actually fixing most of the above - but not at £350...
So for now, I'll carry on with my SE candybar and £15/month SIM-only contract.
Re: With smartphones free for many contracts
You seem to forget that a lot of candy bar users do not make enough call to even warrant a monthly contract so ... the candy bar remains. Mine will!
