Consumer wish-list for mobiles: anyone listening?
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When Jong-Kyun Shin, president of Samsung Mobile Communications, introduced Galaxy S5, the company’s next flagship mobile phone, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, the message was loud and clear: We listen to our customer and this is what we have made for them.
The features of the new phone were far from revolutionary. Instead, they represented an upgrade of existing features that ordinary users have been complaining about.
The Galaxy S5 offers:
* A special power saving mode that turns the screen into black and white and shuts down all functions except text messaging and phone calls, enabling a phone with only 20 percent of its power left to operate another 24 hours
* A camera that can auto focus within 0.3 of a second
* A water resistant feature that allows phones to be used during downpours or survive a spilled cup of coffee.
Standing in front of three gigantic full HD LED screens at the Barcelona International Convention Center, Shin said in English: “We ask people around the world. People want meaningful relevant innovations in their life.”
His words evoked loud and prolonged applause from the crowd of about 1,000 who had gathered to hear Shin.
The audience response is well supported by a recent mobile phone user survey conducted by GMI, a Kantar company, at the beginning of this year. The company surveyed 1,000 UK consumers to ascertain what features they would like to see in their mobile phones this year.
“Better battery life” was the most resounding answer, with 69 percent. That was followed by “cheaper smart phones” at 47 percent, and a “better camera” with 44 percent. Jazzy new technologies make the headlines, but that isn’t necessarily what ordinary consumers are looking for — at least not now. For example, only 19 percent of respondents said they would like health monitoring functions on their phones, while curved screens and wearable smart watches or glasses got the thumbs up from only 7 percent.
The Mobile World Congress, which ran from February 24-27, didn’t display much hype about wearable devices. Samsung’s new Gear smart watches were generally greeted with a “nice to have” response, not a “have to have” response.
“There aren’t many killer applications in wearable devices,” said Dominic Sunnebo, global strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel. “Companies need to produce wearables that can show customers true value.”
According to the British newspaper The Mail, the UK National Health Service will start to test sticking plasters in 10 hospitals that can monitor patient heart rate, breathing patterns and body temperature. The data will be streamed to computers in nursing stations and to mobile phones over a WiFi network.
The disposable patches, which each cost 35 pounds (US$58), will help reduce the number of deaths caused by improper monitoring. Also they could “save the National Health Service more than 500 million pounds a year for a 50 million pound annual investment,” said Anthony Sethill, chief executive of Toumaz Group, parent of Sensium Health, which produces the patches.
More likely, the trend in the world of mobiles is not for phones to do more things but for phones that do things more smartly. Just listen to consumers.
Kantar is the data investment management division of WPP and one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy groups. To know more research results, please visit cn.kantar.com.
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