Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s mobile dominance is not overstated, but use of new technologies like video chat and LTE may be. That's what we've found by tallying the results of our first annual global survey of nearly 550 telecom professionals, including 120 service providers.
The survey results back up wireless operators' claims that data use, particularly mobile video viewing, is on the rise. And, indeed, we learn that mobile data caps only affect a small amount of users -- at least for now.
From the respondents we also learned:
Thirty-four percent say they use more than 1GB of data per month and 12 percent say they use over 3GB
Sixty-three percent update their status on a social network at least once a day, and 41 percent use up to six mobile apps on a regular basis
Fifteen percent of respondents are planning to buy an LTE tablet this year; only 3 percent own one
Mobile Musings
You'd expect our readers -- telecom professionals -- to be amongst the most tech-savvy, mobile people out there, which we found to be true. The survey results, broken down on the following pages, provide a snapshot of how the industry -- inclusive of everyone from C-level execs to engineers to marketers -- is embracing mobility and technologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), mCommerce and mobile video.
I used to lament the lack of a slide-out keyboard, but touchscreen cured me of that lament. I'm more interested in voice-recognition / transcription - and if I really need to crank out text, use a bluetooth keyboard.
That 1/3 of smart phone users in this sample don't watch video on their devices is a good benchmark to keep in mind as multi-screen video moves ahead. Back to a less exciting topic, I wonder how many would like to hear better voice quality on their calls. (People do still talk on smart phones, right?)
Mari, you are well schooled in the details of phones and networks and a savvy buyer. Most people walk into a phone store, see a HTC/LG/Samsung Android whatever... and then see the iPhone for $50 less.
So then they ask.. "what does the 4G get me that the iPhone doesn't have with 3G?" and the answer is... not much.
When you pick up the devices and hold them, the iPhone is still (my opinion) the best-designed device. It's something you can actually feel. And then there is the social/cool factor to go along with it. Those Samsung commercials are funny for a reason. People like iPhones, like having them. Nothing in "4G" marketing can change that for now.
I find it odd that more people haven't jumped on the LTE bandwagon. Plenty of people live in areas with good coverage and are still working off grandfathered unlimited data plans. For me, 4G was a no-brainer when I bought a new phone last June. And I make good use of it. Wi-Fi offload is great, but public hotspots tend to be, well, spotty. I work on coffee-shop Wi-Fi on my laptop, but keep 4G running on my phone to stream music. The performance is better.
LTE device sales aren't going to pick up much until there is an LTE capable iPhone. There's simply no reason to pay a premium for the current "new" LTE devices running Android, unless they have some characteristic that won't be found in an iPhone, like a slide-out keyboard.
Would have liked to have seen some questions about whether people think they are getting good value for their data plans, and if any users have found that 4G has made their lives better. Right now what I see is people staying on the sidelines, maybe buying an older 4G device if they get it for free. And waiting until there is an LTE iPhone.
I agree. It's crazy to think how high the mobile data usage is when 65% of people are using Wi-Fi whenever they can. Think how high it'd be if they weren't using Wi-Fi!?
Some of the most interesting aspects of your research pertain to WiFi. Clearly the message about saving money by using WiFi seems to have gotten out.
As you note, Cisco is predicting WiFi offload to double & you quote one of their execs who attempts to support that by saying "a lot of mobile traffic is not on the move, but where we happen to be."
As you note, some of your research appears to contradict that assertion, as nearly two-thirds of respondents said they use mobile data when they are "on the go."
But I don't think that's necessarily at odds with what the Cisco exec said. People probably say they are "on the go" when they are in an airport or visiting a client. But I would bet that it's fairly uncommon for people to be using mobile data while they are actually in motion (i.e., riding in a car, etc.) And unless they're actually in motion, WiFi offload often may be an excellent alternative.
I think smartphone selection may be more similar across carriers than the other network factors. A lot of carriers have different versions of the same device or a similar operating system at least. But, coverage and reliability can vary greatly by area.
Really interesting that smartphone selection came out at the bottom. I think this particular result might be different in a mass-market survey. I could be wrong, but it seems like the average person spends a fair amont of time picking the phone they want--I would assume it's on the aesthetics as well as features of the device.
Regarding feeling pretty satisfied with their current carrier, it would be interesting to know whether these users had a contract with the operator or if they were no-contract users...
The blogs and comments are the opinions only of the writers and do not reflect the views of Light Reading. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
To save this item to your list of favorite Light Reading content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
