Likewise, although a wide variety of handsets are available around the world, they share many similar features in the U.S. and other countries, from texting and photo capability, to web access. Moreover, while there are heavy users and early adopters of advanced capabilities everywhere, consumers’ interest in using those features will vary. A recent Harris interactive survey asking 1,092 U.S. wireless subscribers what they wanted in their next wireless device found that 39 percent say they “just want a simple mobile phone with less bells and whistles.” The top three ‘wants’ mentioned by these users are: more battery life, “less bells and whistles,” and more economical access.
Of course, the sheer number of wireless consumers means that there will be a wide variety of interests including consumers interested in the most advanced applications and features, as well as consumers interested in the simplest offerings. Thus, the iPhone and other Smartphones co-exist with the Jitterbug™. Dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular service also known as Unlicensed Mobile Access or UMA was recently introduced, and is currently being offered by two U.S. carriers, and four providers in seven other countries (including two in Britain, one in Holland, Poland, and Spain, one in Finland, one in Italy, and one in Denmark). The recent launch of this service in these countries means that it is too early to judge the comparative performance of the different markets. Indeed, there was a relative scarcity of dual-mode devices worldwide until relatively recently.
Content and Variety
Just as consumers can choose to go to their carrier or a third-party for a handset, they can choose to go to their carrier or go off-deck for games, music, wallpaper or other content. In Europe, revenues from content are split 50-50 between on-deck and off-portal sources. In the U.S., it’s been estimated that the split last year was 70-30 for on-deck and off-deck sources. More recent data suggests that the U.S. split is shifting towards more off-deck purchases.
Although some critics argue that U.S. consumers’ options have been limited, carriers have introduced expanded options, including competing browsers (leading to mobile-optimized content or the larger Internet), and the ability to tailor the consumers’ display to highlight their application and content preferences. Agarwal believes that “the carrier portals have done a good job in the U.S. but I think they can do a whole lot more with search technologies and so on, and once consumers can get to what they want with a few keystrokes, I think that will drive adoption as well.”
