The number of UK consumers using smartphones has increased marginally by only 2 per cent in the last six months, according to a YouGov survey. Undertaken as part of YouGov's Smartphone Mobile Internet Experience (SMIX) research, the study said that only just over a third of UK adults are active smartphone users, with the devices being unpopular with women and the elderly.
"The challenge for the industry is to better explain the benefits of smartphone ownership to current rejecters, notably older age groups and women," Russell Feldman, YouGov's associate director for technology and telecoms consulting, told the Daily Telegraph.
The research firm said that the problem is particularly acute for HTC and Nokia, which YouGov says "are brands that appeal significantly more to men than women." Apple and Samsung's devices appeal to both genders, the survey found.
These finding seem to go against reports that mobile data traffic continues to grow rapidly, along with smartphone sales. "It could be that the growing sales figures are being driven by existing smartphone users upgrading,"Ovum analyst Tony Cripps told the Telegraph, claiming that the different sources of data do not necessarily contradict each other.
However, the Ovum analyst said he is unconcerned for the smartphone industry, and believes that a higher proportion of handsets in use are going to naturally be smartphones as prices come down. "In the long run the situation won't remain the same simply because technology always percolates down," he said.
For more:
- see this YouGov release
- see this Daily Telegraph article
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