No more device choices, please: mobile shoppers to Compete

By Mickey Alam Khan

January 17, 2008

Adam Guy, Compete

Mass-market wireless shoppers don't want more devices, services or applications, according to a new study from Web analytics firm Compete Inc.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents told Compete that they feel their wireless carrier has sufficient selection.

"They're saying enough already," said Adam Guy, general manager of telecommunications and media at Compete, Boston. "But shoppers of other portable consumer electronics devices are asking for more wide-area connectivity. So that's the real mass-market opportunity for open access."

The survey pulled behavioral data from the 2 million consumers that Compete monitors over the Internet and 881 consumers who responded directly online.

Other findings emerged from the study.

First, wireless shoppers were not aware of available services. Of those that wanted more features and services, the majority sought applications such as GPS and Internet connectivity. Both are available on the market.

Second, consumers aren't aware of open-access options. Seventy-five percent of the respondents ranked device price and 69 percent chose customer service over flexibility when queried about the most important mobile phone features.

Third, wireless shoppers can't find what they want. Almost one-third of the respondents reported increasing difficulty in finding the right mobile phone in the past couple of years.

Finally, more than 50 percent of consumer electronics device shoppers of laptops and GPS were keen on devices that enabled wide-area connectivity.

"Open access creates a new category of premium consumer electronics devices," Mr. Guy said. "So people say they'll pay more for a GPS or digital camera that's connected to the Internet. It also frees up carriers to focus on marketing their existing suite of device services.

"My suggestion is that carriers should outsource the development of niche services to third-parties and really focus on making sure that existing wireless users understand all that's available," he said. "Other consumer electronics manufacturers should aggressively deploy connectible devices leveraging the open-access regime."