A survey carried out by OpenCloud of 1,000 UK consumers found over 80% of see call and text prices as the most important factors when looking for a new mobile phone, whereas two-thirds of respondents view social networking applications as luxury additions and non-essential.
Some 69% of respondents said that when money is tight, they reduce mobile internet-based applications, including social networking, first.
Consumers are also willing to jump ship to another operator, for the right bundle at the right price. Over half (59%) of consumers would look to move their mobile provider to downsize their bills, while a similar percentage would look to transfer to pre-pay services to limit costs.
The three most important factors for consumers seeking a new phone is handset price, call price and text price. Social networking applications were rated as extremely important by only 5.5% of respondents.
