Posted on October 14, 2009, at 2:10 pm .
Gartner has released a slightly revised version of their outlook for the 2012 mobile operating system. The latest predictions put Symbian as the top OS, followed by Android, with BlackBerry in third and iPhone in fourth.
The interesting part of this research is the positioning of BlackBerry relative to the iPhone. The advantage of BlackBerry is that it will always have enough devices to cover the entire gamut of potential smartphone users. While you may not love every device that RIM ships, there will always be a device for you.
While Gartner believes that Open Source OS markets are the future, we aren’t seeing much proof of this. Developers aren’t making enough money on either platform for the devices to be of much of use. We have said this countless times on BlackBerry Cool, it’s the software that determines the winner and hardware is fast becoming secondary with regards to the competitiveness of a device.
Gartner has placed a large degree in confidence in Nokia after their partnership with Microsoft. The thought is that the partnership will allow Nokia to deliver Office Mobile, as well as full SharePoint integration, allowing Nokia to steal some of RIM’s enterprise market share. Perhaps this may look good to an analyst at Gartner, but it simply won’t happen. Unless Nokia comes out with a product that rivals BES, hosts an equally robust developer community as well as provides the security of a BlackBerry, the partnership is just talk. If SharePoint is the only advantage, you will have to prove that it is significantly better than what Wicksoft can offer.
Overall, the predictions are as follows:
1. Symbian
2. Android
3. BlackBerry
4. iPhone
5. Windows Mobile
While we may not know the final outcome until 2012, rest assured it’s the developers who will decide the final victor. So if you’re a developer looking to make that killer app, don’t let Gartner become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Go to the brand you trust and ultimately, go to the brand that’s making you money. I guarantee you it’s not Symbian, Android or Windows Mobile.
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Posted on September 10, 2009, at 2:22 pm .
The research behind iPhone and BlackBerry comparisons that is making its way into the mainstream media is almost always flawed. The media loves to talk about the prolific nature of the iPhone and how technologically advanced its users are, while almost implicitly ragging on BlackBerry.
A recent study claims that iPhone owners are much more likely to download apps and get involved with social networking than their BlackBerry-owning counterparts.
The study shows that about 72% of iPhone users are likely to have downloaded at least 10 third-party apps, but 73% of BlackBerry users have picked up five apps or less. The researchers add that iPhone owners are more willing to buy their apps than BlackBerry owners.
When it comes to downloading third party apps, this study failed to recognize that bulk apps, shouldn’t be recognized as multiple applications. They are essentially the same app, templated and replicated by changing a few small pieces of data. This is where RIM shines in that App World isn’t filled with the same amount of useless garbage.
With regards to social networking, the researchers found that roughly 71% of Apple users have a Facebook account versus 44% of BlackBerry users. Twitter follows a similar trend with 26% for iPhone versus 15% for BlackBerry.
Social networking discrepancies is a demographics issue, not a device issue as the research implies. While BlackBerry is moving its focus to the consumer market, it still has years of enterprise users behind it and this could be skewing the numbers. In the end, we all know that the BlackBerry is an incredibly powerful social networking tool. Whether or not the older BlackBerry demographic is using these services is another matter.
One element of the research that I find particularly flawed, is the research that says 83 percent of users prefer apps that cost below $5. This is a consistent mistake that researchers make. They think that just because you have asked someone what they want to pay for something, that that information is somehow valuable. The truth is that everyone wants to pay the minimum, and if possible, get it for free. The reality of the situation is that if your app is well designed and provides a tangible benefit to the user, the $5 benchmark is meaningless. Just look at TetherBerry, it’s a $50 application that is one of Mobihand’s best sellers.
Posted on June 25, 2009, at 9:52 am .
In a recent survey, forty percent of smartphone users who don’t already own an iPhone said they would switch to the Apple handset for their next purchase, nearly three times the percentage of non-Blackberry users who would switch to a BlackBerry.
The online survey was conducted May 19 to June 8, by market researcher Crowd Science and found that only 14 percent of non-Blackberry users wanted to switch to that family of devices.
There are a few problems with the nature of this survey which should be pointed out. First of all, iPhone fans have a greater presence on the Internet. A quick view of Google’s most searched terms places iPhone above BlackBerry which could mean that Apple fans are skewing these numbers. Secondly, we can’t be sure of the validity of those filling out the survey. Did they really not own a smartphone? Did the survey use geo-targeting to ensure they were in the North American market? These could all make the survey less valid.
In the end, RIM will be saturating the market with a wider variety of handsets, and therefore is better positioned to capture a larger share of the smartphone market. While you may love the new iPhone, and it is getting a lot of hype, remember that there are many types of smartphone consumers and the iPhone can’t satisfy them all. RIM on the other hand, can offer a smartphone for every user, be it the Power User and their Bold, or the introductory user and their free Pearl.
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Posted on May 27, 2009, at 8:36 am .
Billing Revolution and Harris Interactive have some interesting survey data regarding the purchase habits of mobile based consumers. The data shows some significant trends along gender lines, income, education, and even preferences when it comes to specific items like pizza, tickets and entertainment.
Here’s a snapshot of some survey results:
93% of U.S. adults (93%) own a cell phone, and nearly half of these adults (45%) think it’s at least somewhat safe to make a purchase through their cell phone with 26% saying they think it’s fairly or very safe to do so.
Nearly half of cell phone owners (46%) would be willing to make purchases this way.
Of those who would be willing to make purchases through their cellphone, (75%) would be willing to buy entertainment items, such as movie/event tickets (58%), music (41%), mobile video or TV content (24%) and games (34%).Many would also purchase food/drink items (68%) such as pizza (59%), fast food (42%), and/or coffee (25%), and over half (55%) would be willing to purchase hotel rooms (43%) and/or tickets for travel (40%) this way.
Read the full research data from Billing Revolution and Harris Interactive
Posted on May 26, 2009, at 9:32 am .
It will be only a matter of time until the landline has become completely obsolete and nowhere to be found. Mobile phones, and BlackBerry devices in particular, offer a level of communication that the landline simply can’t compete with. Households are switching to mobile entirely and do not feel the need to have a landline anymore.
Around 20% of U.S. households have given up their landlines in favor of cell phones. Wireless-only households increased by 17% from the first six months of 2008 to the second half of the year — the largest jump since the National Center for Health Statistics started collecting data in 2003. For the first time, the percentage of wireless-only households exceeds the percentage that rely on landline telephones alone.
For the period July through December 2008:
- More than three in five adults living only with unrelated adult roommates (60.6%) were in households with only wireless telephones. This is the highest prevalence rate among the population subgroups examined.
- Nearly two in five adults renting their home (39.2%) had only wireless telephones. Adults renting their home were more likely than adults owning their home (9.9%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- More than two in five adults aged 25-29 years (41.5%) lived in households with only wireless telephones. Approximately one-third (33.1%) of adults aged 18-24 years lived in households with only wireless telephones.
- As age increased from 30 years, the percentage of adults living in households with only wireless telephones decreased: 21.6% for adults aged 30-44 years; 11.6% for adults aged 45-64 years; and 3.3% for adults aged 65 years and over.
- Men (20.0%) were more likely than women (17.0%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- Adults living in poverty (30.9%) and adults living near poverty (23.8%) were more likely than higher income adults (16.0%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- Adults living in the South (21.3%) and Midwest (20.8%) were more likely than adults living in the Northeast (11.4%) or West (17.2%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- Non-Hispanic white adults (16.6%) were less likely than Hispanic adults (25.0%) or non-Hispanic black adults (21.4%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
See the full study by the National Center for Health Statistics.
