Below is a list of market projection related data focused on mobile Internet and smartphone adoption on behalf of consumers. The first quote is taken from a recent InformationWeek article that provides an overview of a Kelsey Group research report titled, “Mobile Market View.”
U.S. consumers are increasingly purchasing smartphones and using the mobile Web, according to a new study from the Kelsey Group.
The study, entitled "Mobile Market View," found that 18.9% of consumers surveyed had a smartphone, and 49.2% planned to buy one within the next two years.
Once the exclusive domain of business personnel, more and more smartphones are being marketed and sold to mainstream consumers. Apple's iPhone and iPhone 3G have been tremendous hits with the casual market, as have handset like the Palm Centro, and the Samsung Instinct. Even Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) has aggressively targeted the casual market with BlackBerry models like the Flip, Storm, and Curve.
The study also found that these smartphone users had a marked increase in the level of mobile search activity. About 18% downloaded or looked at map directions on the handset, an increase from 10.8% in 2007. There were also significant increases in the amount of mobile subscribers who searched for products, movie and entertainment information, and mobile social networking also got a boost.
Source: InformationWeek
Compare this to the recent revisions that many analysts made to handset shipment volume in light of the global financial meltdown, and the projections made above become a bit muddled:
UBS analyst Maynard Um halved his forecast for 2009 global handset growth to 3 percent from 6 percent, pointing to particular weakness in Europe and North America. "We continue to believe in a tight relationship between world real GDP and device volume growth," Um wrote in a research note.
He cited UBS cutting its forecast for 2009 global gross domestic product growth to 2.2 percent from 2.8 percent for his own reduced handset estimate.
The news comes as major phone vendors -- and some new players -- are betting heavily on the success of higher-end, Internet-enabled smartphones, following the model of the popular Apple iPhone. HP, for example, is expected to be driving into the consumer smartphone market with a new iPAQ model later this year.
Source: InternetNews.com
And then there’s this bit of news to throw a bit more uncertainty into the mix:
Global smartphone shipments hit an all-time high in the third quarter 2008, and while the United States market more than doubled, Japan experienced a steep decline, according to a report.
Apple, Research in Motion, and HTC made large gains in market share, which came at the expense of share leader Nokia. Although it lost some of its huge lead, Nokia retained its top spot.
Despite softness in the overall mobile phone market, 39.9 million smartphones were shipped in the third quarter 2008--an all-time high for a single quarter.
Source: Red Herring
So...there's plenty of room for optimism. However, there's also plenty to be sorted out and the mixed data reflects the degree to which things will remain uncertain for the time being.
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