Are high end smart mobile devices coming of age?
According to recent figures from market research firm Canalys Ltd. Symbian is still very much in the lead in EMEA when looking at the shipments of the so called smart mobile devices (smartphones, handhelds and wireless handhelds). Symbian (mostly S60 devices) had a market share close to 80%, meaning that 8 out 10 smart devices in the hands of EMEA inhabitants were running on Symbian. An impressive number no matter how you look at it!
Those of you who have followed the S60 market for some time know that Symbian having such a high market share is not exactly big news. But what is noteworthy is that the whole market is not growing at the same explosive growth as it used to. The whole EMEA market grew 11.7% year on year in Q3 2006. Back in good old 2005 a quarterly growth rate of over 100% was more of a rule than an exception.
So what?
A fast conclusion of the situation might be to declare that the smart mobile devices market has reached its plateau. But I wouldn’t go that way.
Instead, this to me sounds like the markets saying “mid-range smart mobile devices, please”. There are only so many consumers looking for high-end devices. And looking at the data I have a feeling we are getting close to that number. If we think of all smart mobile device owners in EMEA as the most pro-technology guys as can be, there should be around 2.5% of them in the population of EMEA. Roughly 40 million people. With the rate of 5 million smart mobile devices sold per quarter, most of these people should already have one by now. This clearly shows the need for mid-priced and easier to use smart mobile devices. In other words, smartphones for the masses. And not just devices, but also services and applications that appeal to the not-so-techy rest of the world.
I’m sure mobile companies are thinking about these things in strategy rooms around the world. But it would be nice to hear your thoughts on how to start the second wave of smart mobile devices. With what kind of services and applications?
From a UK consumer perspective, in the recent past a lot of smartphones have sold to people who were not interested in smartphones or smartphone functionality. They were looking for a Nokia handset on the new ‘give-it-all-away’ Three network. The 6630, and especially the 6680, then to a slightly lesser extent the N70 sold in big numbers to this group. Because of the Nokia name. Now this network has phones like the 6280 and 6233 which eat into the smartphone share on that network.
That may only be one network perspective, but the amount of phones Three sold over the last 18 months was huge, as the network went on a big acquisition drive. Nokia smartphone was a big seller for Three.
Going forward, if Nokia smartphone is going to become mainstream then I think more phones like the 5500 is going to be needed. A phone running smartphone software that isn’t marketed as a smartphone. Segmenting phones in this way really puts the average customer off. Market the benefits of the handset without mentioning Symbian, or smartphone.
The mass market buys their devices through the carriers, especially in North America, and getting cheap smartphones in carrier stores is how numbers will grow.