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Cell Phone Trend Watch
Based on Uncle Sam's Almanac, the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract, cell phones continue to take the lion's share of telephone services. In 2008, the cell phone trend shows there were more than 270 million subscribers, an average monthly bill of $50 and an average call duration of 2.5 minutes. In a significant trend, the number of text messages sent on cell phones more than doubled from 48 billion in December 2007 to 110 billion in December 2008.
"As the largest online activations agent for all major carriers, Wirefly has a unique view of the trends driving our industry," said Wirefly President Brian Westrick in early 2006 as he predicted "a new set of trends driving people to switch or upgrade their cell phones and plans." How did Wirefly's cell phone trend picture pan out in 2006? Music Phones And Mobile TV Phones Bigger Selection Of More Robust Smartphones
Wirefly said its sales showed "strong growth" in phones made just for kids. Expanded GPS Services
Ringtone is one of nearly 100 new words to make the 2006 update of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. Along with other words like "spyware" and "mouse potato" ("person who spends a great deal of time using a computer"), ringtone is defined as "the sound made by a cell phone to signal an incomimg call." As a leading cell phone trend, ringtone rightfully joins other words like "google" that have recently been added to the authoritative dictionary through sustained colloquial usage in American lingo. Click here for more information.
Mobile phones could soon rival the PC as the dominant Internet platform in some markets, according to a study by global market research firm Ipsos Insight. Although the PC remains the dominant Internet access platform globally, Internet access by mobile phone actually outpaces wireless access from a notebook PC in many of areas of the world. This cell phone trend is driven largely by the massive installed base of mobile phones throughout the world as well as more developed wireless networks, according to The Face of the Web, the annual study of Internet trends. Internet browsing via a wireless device is showing robust growth. Interestingly, growth in this cell phone trend for 2005 was driven by the older users (age 35+), indicating that surfing the Internet on a mobile phone is emerging as a mainstream activity, no longer dominated by the traditional early adopter segment - young males, typical of many new consumer technologies. Click here for more information.
"The hottest thing in cell phones last year was, without a doubt, the popularity of the Motorola RAZR," said Brian Westrick, president of Wirefly, an online leader in one-stop comparison shopping for cell phones and wireless phone plans. "Thin was definitely in - the RAZR was Wirefly's number one best-seller." Reflecting the huge cell phone trend in mobile messaging, T-Mobile's Sidekick popularized cell phones with QWERTY keyboards among younger consumers. Already popular, camera phones expanded to include not only megapixel resolution, but also video capture, allowing users to take and send video clips to friends and family.
What do consumers want most from future all-in-one phones? According to research by TNS, over 75 percent of mobile phone and PDA users in the U.S. rate "two-days of battery life during active use" as the most important feature. [more]...
Mobile browsing and Internet connectivity services via cell phones will claim a major portion of that revenue pool, surging from just over $1 billion in 2005 to $15.3 billion in 2010. [more]...
Parents should not be surprised if cell phones top their teenagers' back-to-school shopping lists, advises IDC. An IDC and SMS.ac survey of nearly 8,000 U.S. teens, ages 13 to 18 who use mobile phones, suggests that many in this age group perceive a cell phone as a social necessity - 35.9% of teens acquired their phones mainly to use text messaging while an additional 13.3% acquired them to talk with friends. [more]... 
The mobile phone will evolve from a communication tool to an integrated communication device, media terminal, credit card and remote control, according to a report by Ireland-based Research and Markets.
"Insights from the Japanese Wireless Market 2005" looks at the world's most advanced mobile market, Japan, for clues on how mobile technology and consumer behavior will evolve. "The most significant trend is that the mobile phone has become the ubiquitous tool for most personal electronic needs," says Sabine Ehlers, IT and telecom analyst. Ehlers explains that service providers have taken advantage of the fact that the mobile terminals follow the users wherever they go, and have made it possible to pay, check in, enter, and travel just by waving the phone in front of sensors. According to the report, five million songs have been downloaded since a service for downloading entire songs directly to the mobile handset was launched in November 2004, and 30 million handsets with contactless chips can be used to pay at seven million shops throughout Japan. [more]...
According to M:Metrics, 24.58 million U.S. mobile subscribers - 13.6 percent - downloaded a ringtone in April 2005, with nearly half purchasing tones from the Web. The monthly benchmark survey also found that overwhelmingly, consumers prefer musical ringtones to sound effects or voice ringtones. Ninety-three percent of respondents said they downloaded a musical ringtone in April, with 23 percent of these subscribers downloading more expensive mastertones, or actual recordings of songs. "Although ringtone consumption still skews young - two-thirds of ringtone downloaders are under 34 - our data shows subscribers across all age groups are downloading ringtones to personalize their phone," said Mark Donovan, senior analyst and vice president, products, M:Metrics. [more]... Men are using an average of 571 minutes a month, compared to an average of 424 wireless minutes a month for women. Not to be outdone, when it comes to camera phone usage, women are leading the men. And mobile phone manufacturers are taking notice when designing cell phones for women. Wireless camera phones continue to attract new users each year. In 2005, 25 percent of women have a camera-capable cell phone, while only 21 percent of men do. And 60 percent of women use their camera feature frequently or occasionally with only 40 percent of men using as often. Conducted in May 2005, the national survey of more than 1,000 adults also revealed:
Convenience still remains the top reason for wireless phone usage among men and women, with 62 percent indicating they primarily use their wireless phones for convenience purposes. Safety is second at 19 percent.
When asked which wireless product they could not live without and would want if stranded on a desert island, nearly 50% of those responding to a survey chose their cell phone. Only 11.7% say they cannot live without their iPods and 11.3% chose their laptop computers. The 2005 survey conducted by NOP World on behalf of RBRC (Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation) shows that Americans use an average of six wireless products in their day-to-day lives, and over 30% of consumers own and use eight or more wireless products. A similar study conducted in 2003 by RBRC found that consumers owned and used an average of five wireless products, while in 1999 consumers were using an average of three wireless products. The survey also reveals:
RBRC's Call2Recycle program features more than 30,000 collection locations across the U.S. where consumers can drop off old cell phones. For more information on how to recycle used cell phones, call 1-877-2RECYCLE or log on to www.call2recycle.org. Also remember to erase personal information from your cell phone before recycling.
The Williams sisters have unveiled their cross-carrier mobile storefront in conjunction with TWI Interactive and m-Qube. Fans can personalize their cell phones with exclusive ringtones, images and other content provided by Venus and Serena. "We recognize the growing importance for sports celebrities like Venus and Serena to engage the wireless channel to enhance their content and augment their relationship with their fans," said Andy Miller, senior vice president of m-Qube. This marketing trend also has soccer great Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known internationally as Pele, coming out of retirement. Global Wireless Entertainment (GWE) will develop, distribute and market a series of 2D and 3D wireless games and information applications bearing the name, likeness and image of Pele.
A new breed of navigation systems is about to change the way you get driving directions. The features of navigation systems most often installed in luxury cars are becoming available on your cell phone or PDA. Thanks to global positioning systems (GPS) on most new phones, and a new class of systems called PNDs (Portable Navigation Devices), affordable maps and turn-by-turn driving instructions with voice output are here. Case in point - Verizon's VZ Navigator. "These portable solutions offer almost the same functionality as in-vehicle navigation systems, but at a fraction of the price," said Phil Magney, principal analyst with Telematics Research Group. [more]...
There's help on the horizon for plastic pollution. Southwest Research Institute, in collaboration with Golden Eagle Wireless U.S.A. and NASA Glenn Research Center, is developing a pilot plant to manufacture biodegradable plastic cell phone cases. The new cases will degrade in landfills and will incorporate E-911 location finding and innovative electromagnetic interference shielding capabilities. [more]...
Despite all the talk about music- and TV-centric devices and services on cell phones, a 2005 In-Stat report shows that some early adopters are not enthused about multimedia handsets. Fewer than 9% of respondents to an early adopter consumer survey were very or extremely interested in buying a cell phone capable of playing MP3 or other music files, and less than 11% were very or extremely interested in broadcast TV functionality, the high-tech research firm says. "The survey did reveal some positives from respondents, however, including a willingness to spend a modest amount more for music or TV phones, and for additional storage," said Neil Strother, In-Stat analyst. [more]...
If the travel industry heeds the findings of a survey by Orbitz and Travelport, expect more robust booking and proactive customer care services via cell phones to assist business travelers on the road. Underscoring the benefits of cell phones, 33% of business travelers said the ability to change, re-book and obtain travel alerts via cell phone, PDA, or Blackberry are most valuable to making business travel more productive. In advocating the booking and managing of more elements of a trip in one location, the survey report identified international cell phones as one of the needs that should be addressed at the same time as booking air, car and hotel.
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