Survey: The smartphone market is shifting to personal

There is a shift happening in the mobile marketplace, specifically within the smartphone user base. According to a recent Macworld/PC World survey smartphone users are beginning to shift from a corporate base to a general consumer base. Researchers also found that smartphones are now being used for personal reasons more often than for business reasons.

by Kristina Knight

This is a strong indicator that smartphones will be the medium that consumers turn to in the near future for not only talking but also for obtaining news information, communicating through email and even working, in some instances.

Researchers found that 85% of smartphone users were 'extremely' or 'very' satisfied with their smartphones; the consumer base also 'relies heavily' on their phones for all types of communications. In fact, survey respondents said they use smartphones for personal reasons two-thirds more often than they use the units for business.

Favored brands of smartphone consumers include Google, music service Pandora and social network Facebook. Apps are also increasingly important to smartphone consumers with about halve downloading, on average, five free and two paid apps in the past month.

In a related study from BIA/Kelsey Group non-voice uses are taking over the mobile arena with consumers texting, emailing and going online more often than they are talking via handsets. Nearly 20% are using mobiles to search for local information, 15% are logging on to social networks and sending emails.

The survey was conducted in the autumn of 2009.

Tags: appvertising, BIA/Kelsey, mobile apps, mobile content, mobile email, mobile marketing, smartphones