U.S. consumers: we don't like our phones smart

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	U.S. consumers: we don't like our phones smart	By Jørgen Sundgot, Tuesday 22 July 2003

Jupiter Research reports that the majority of U.S. consumers are not interested in smartphones.

Through recently conducted research, Jupiter Research says the copmany has found that when choosing a mobile phone, U.S. consumers prioritize small size and voice-related functionality over more advanced features such as integrated digital cameras, games, PDAs or music players.

Given the choice of a free basic mobile phone or paying for a mobile phone with built-in PDA functionality, digital camera or MP3 player (largely answering to the definition of a smartphone) - a choice offered by nearly all U.S. carriers - most U.S. consumers were not willing to pay even as little as $49 USD.

According to Jupiter Research, the company created a Handset Taxonomy, identifying key attributes that define each device category. "We explored the reasons vendors and carriers are aggressively creating and subsidizing converged devices such as mobile phones with built-in cameras, music or computing capabilities. But those reasons have to be measured against actual consumer demand," said Jupiter Research Analyst Avi Greengart.

Jupiter Research conducted an independent survey to assess U.S. consumer demand for advanced mobile phone features and to determine their willingness to pay for added functionality at different price points. The new report analyzes the factors that will enable or prevent a dominant mobile platform from emerging and provides actionable advice for handset manufacturers, cellular carriers and application developers. Separate action plans are provided for media, advertisers and retailers dealing with the changing landscape.

"Basic mobile phones with voice and text messaging capability will continue to make up the majority of sales, followed by cell phones that can run small Java or BREW applications without overly increasing mobile phone size or price," Greengart said. "But cell phones with cameras, MP3 players and/or PDAs will not be widely adopted in the U.S. over the next 12 months," Greengart added.

Because interest in converged devices is low, Jupiter Research instead advised carriers and handset vendors to create single purpose mobile phones, PDAs and MP3 players, and allow them to function as a single unit using Bluetooth wireless technology.