The Smart Phone Industry 2010

The Smart Phone Industry 2010

1. Introduction

Over the past decade we have witnessed an exceptional worldwide growth penetration in the mobile phone market especially ever since the development of 3G technology (Table 7A). Most people own at least one phone either for business and / or personal usage. It also could be the cost of the handset as we had seen from the movement of the life-cycle of the handset which has seen many of the less advanced handset fall in price as they progress towards maturity (Hooley et al, 2007).

2. The Product

2.1 The Smart Phone Market

The smart phone offers advanced computing ability and connectivity, able to undertake a wide range of functions, including but not limited to internet access, email support, may facilitate data transfer between the unit and other computers, may connect to local wireless networks and integrates personal information management. The market is dominated by a few manufacturers with their own individual operating system (Table 7B), as demand for the smart phone market grows significantly, It is worth noting that these are market share figures , in all cases, the growth in the market has seen growth within sales figures, even where market share has fallen back (Flynn, 2010). We will discuss the trends in the smart phone market due to the social factors.

3. Social Influences on the Market

3.1 The Economy and Disposable Income

The pattern in sales may be seen as reflections of changes in the overall environment in terms of the economy as well as changes in technology.

The difficulty in the economy may also be seen as supporting the candy bar phones, the costs were sunk and some may be near the end of their lifecycles, so the price is lower, and as such they become more attractive in markets where there is less disposable income. The ability of firms to allow a pull strategy, where they are moving into less developed markets also allow them to be the leverage of older technology in order to gain as much profit as possible, without the need for investment, a strategy often seen at the end of a products lifecycle (Kotler and Keller, 2008).

3.2 Usage of Mobile Phones

It is argued by Kotler and Keller (2008) that consumers do not buy functions; they buy benefits and therefore market research and segmentation are necessary. Beside making phone calls which is the core purpose, others usages are show in Table 7C. IT-savvy users access information via web-enabled facilities within the mobile devices. Beside information technology, different benefits and promotions used by marketers to reach out to their target audience, i.e. online shopping, customer-feedback/survey, banking, etc. The most significant up-trend seen is the downloading of applications, i.e. Apple has opened up and allowed outside companies to offer softwares designed for the iPhone, today more than 10,000 applications have been created. The online Application Store offers these applications, the majority of which are either free or cost 99 cents (Borrows, 2009).

This is a pattern that has now expanded to other smart phones and there is the ability to download applications from the suppliers' web sites.

3.3 Fashion and Trends

The iPhone is being perceived as a fashion accessory in the same way that of a bag or a belt but with a higher level of commitment as the users are increasing undertaking interaction with the device, so the way it looks and feels are important.

There is also a high level of influence in consumer goods originating from fashions and trends, so items that are seen as fashionable are more popular (Pain et al, 2005). It is the marketing concept of the extension of personality, which is also seen with many other items, such as accessory and jewelry and is also seen in the way messages may be displayed on T-Shirts, where the accessory is an expression as well as a functional item, that may be used to help explain the change in the way phones are sold as well as the rise of the iPhone (Hooley et al,. 2007).

4. The Marketing Implications

By 2011, over 85 percent of new handsets will be able to access mobile web (Gartner 2010), the key drivers for mobile usage are expected to be (in order of importance) money transfer; location-based services; mobile search; mobile browsing; mobile health monitoring; mobile payment; near-field-communication services; mobile advertising; instant messaging and mobile music. These are huge market potentials and the right marketing concepts (4Ps) through above-the-line marketing, Point-of-Sales and online applications must reach out to the all those who need these services especially businessmen, executives, young adults and teens.

5. Conclusion

The device which was once simply used to make a call, is