PRESS RELEASE
May 23, 2012, 6:01 a.m. EDT
iGR Research Finds That 71 Percent of Mobile Device Sales in May Were Smartphones
Consumer Research Shows That Smartphone Purchase Intenders Are Willing to Pay $11 More for an Apple iPhone Compared to Android
AUSTIN, TX, May 23, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- In 2012, it is hard to imagine life without a smartphone which provide constant connectivity to email, music, social networks, and much more, from just about any location. As such, U.S. consumers are increasingly interested in smartphones and have, or plan to, purchase such devices. In order to understand more about current smartphone buying trends, iGR conducted a major survey of consumers in May 2012.
Consumers indicated that approximately 28 percent of the mobile handsets they purchased recently were basic mobile phones and 71 percent were smartphones. Close to 69 percent of the handsets they plan to buy in the future are likely to be smartphones.
The majority of consumers who recently purchased a handset (of any type) reported a mean overall handset purchase price of approximately $114.23 (weighted). Similarly, the majority of consumers who plan to buy any type of handset in the near future plan to spend on average approximately $127.25 (weighted).
When iGR examined the price the respondents were willing to pay for a smartphone, the survey showed that consumers were on average willing to pay $135.90 for an Apple iPhone compared to $124.65 for an Android device. Thus, despite the range of Android smartphones available across all price points, Apple is able to command an average of $11 higher price per device.
"Smartphones have become the new norm," said Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR, a market research consultancy focused on the wireless & mobile industry. "60 percent of the survey respondents iGR interviewed reported using a smartphone." And while smartphone users do tend to be younger (below 45), that demographic is shifting as smartphones become more common and more appealing to older consumers. Indeed, the purchasing demographic must shift in the next few years in order for smartphone adoption to increase.
iGR's new market research report, U.S. Consumer Smartphone Profile: Current Use and Future Purchase Plans, looks at consumer trends in the U.S. regarding smartphones, and addresses the following questions:
