Is the market for smartphones declining?

Facts and figures from a recent YouGov survey suggest mobile providers, retailers and manufacturers may have to work harder to overcome waning demand Image via cambodia4kids.org on Flickr

Smartphone Mobile Internet eXperience (SMIX)  The most recent results of this quarterly survey by YouGov

were released in March 2012, and show that:

 although smartphone penetration of the market has

doubled over the past 2 years,

 smartphone penetration is slowing…

Image via 3 Sverige on Flickr

ď‚— Between March 2011 and March 2012, 42% of standard

mobile phone users switched to smartphones ď‚— However, that is only 6% more than the year before Image via JeanbaptisteM on Flickr

42% of those who currently use a standard mobile phone say they plan to get a smartphone next Of the rest…  55% say they’re happy with their

current mobile phone  47% say they don’t need a

smartphone  32% say smartphones are too

expensive  30% say the tariffs for

smartphones are too high  16% say smartphones are too

complex to use Image via yisris on Flickr

Also, the percentage of standard phone users over the age of 55 has increased to 55% (up from 38% 2 years ago)

This suggests most younger mobile phone users have switched to smartphones

Images via Soctech and kdinuraj on Flickr

However, previous YouGov research suggests that many older standard mobile users could be persuaded to switch to smartphones‌

‌just so they can use Google Maps on the go.

Image via Google Maps

Other survey results show that 64 % of standard mobile users are pay as you go customers and only 28% are on contracts

Perhaps because of this, only 28% have purchased their phone directly from the mobile service provider (as opposed to 55% of smartphone owners)

Image via Dominik Syka on Flickr

The most popular sources of standard mobile phones?  Second-hand from friends and family – 12%  Tesco – 10%

 Argos – 4%

Image via bfishadow on Flickr

Also, 56% of standard mobile phone users are female – so this is a potential market for smartphones manufacturers and retailers to tap into

Image via Mooganic on Flickr

So what does this mean for smartphone manufacturers and retailers?  Demand for standard mobile phones has been steadily declining, but demand for smartphones is also starting to slow

 To increase conversion of standard mobile owners to smartphone users, retailers must adjust their techniques: Russell Feldman, Associate Director in YouGov’s Technology and Telecom’s team points out that “The ‘one size fits all’ approach does not work in this instance and customer service needs to be tailored to suit the requirements of the customer. The groups that are rejecting smartphones do not usually find empathetic sales staff in the retailers they frequent. This is a matter of salesforce training for operators and retailers.”

Image via digitpedia on Flickr

• Feldman also notes that there is room to convert many standard mobile phone users to lower-end smartphones, given the right approach • Plus, there are still markets to be tapped among women and older mobile users

So what do you think – has the demand for smartphones peaked, or will standard mobile phones soon begin to vanish?

Image via francisco_osorio on Flickr