Teens have been using cell phones since they could press buttons. Now they can text with one hand faster than I can type with both. But on those long lines for iPhones, the only young people were buying them for bosses. When is the Smartphone market going to cater to this savvy demographic?
This was the question asked in a recent Business 2.0 article, and it’s spot on. The number of teens with mobile phones is
way up, having grown 26% in just 2 years. They are the ones that use all the fancy features; half take photos on their phones. Meanwhile many adults still can’t figure out how to send a text (mom). Now both tweens and teens want more from their phones: QWERTY keyboards or touchscreens, games, widgets, social networks, LBS, cameras, the works… And they want their phones to look cool. In fact, a recent study showed that cell phones impress teens more than cars.
Outside the United States, fancy phones and data services been a hit since the late 1990s, especially in Japan. NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode service has more than 35 million Japanese users. Gaming is often more popular on these phones than talking. Some are waterproof, some have built-in breathalysers, others let you pay bills, read manga, order concert tickets… Teens account for 70% of i-mode’s revenues, and the same goes for its counterparts in South Korea, Singapore, and Scandinavia. So why not the U.S?
First off, our mobile networks are woefully underdeveloped and data plans are often too expensive for adults, let alone
their kids. Though now that the 4G WiMax network is coming, the tide should begin to turn. Faster networks and cheaper data are in our mobile future. Better bandwidth will also take video to a new level, which devices like the new Motorola Razr2 (above right) with inside and outside video screens are poised to leverage.
But the truth is, Smartphones aren’t all that expensive—some retail for around $100. The problem is one of choice, but this is changing as well. Take the Firefly from AT&T. It used to have 5 buttons and look like a neon walkie talkie. It didn’t sell, so they took off the training wheels. The revamped “FlyPhone” (below right) will include a camera, MP3 player, games and photo-sharing capabilities.
Then there is the Helio, a South Korea MVNO which we’ve admired for awhile. The sleek, well-equipped handsets with lots of advanced social features like Buddy Beacon are aimed squarely at the youth market. The reach just isn’t there for Helio right now, but once networks speed up, this is the model phones will be following.
Meanwhile, Treos and Blackberries are getting tricked out with mobile games. If you get these into the hands of teens and twentysomethings, usage will soar like it has in Asia. It doesn’t take Steve Jobs to figure that one out. Speaking of Steve, we Americans can at least take solace in the fact that the Japanese are drooling over the iPhone. If only teens could afford it.
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1 University Update - Steve Jobs - Teens are smarter than their phones // Aug 30, 2007 at 11:12 am
[...] Teens are smarter than their phones » This Summary is from an article posted at » Next Great Thing on Thursday, August 30, 2007 [...]
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