Table of Contents
Executive Summary
-
- The market
- Slow, but steady growth in volume
-
- Figure 1: US mobile phone unit sales, 2008-13
- Younger ages spend most on phones
-
- Figure 2: Spend on most recent cell phone purchase, by age, January-September 2013
- Prepaid plans jeopardize units and pricing
-
- Figure 3: Time since last purchase of cell phone, by type of plan, December 2013
- Key players
- Samsung, iPhone neck and neck
-
- Figure 4: Brand of cell phone owned, January-September 2013
- The consumer
- Opportunities in first-time smartphone buyers remain
-
- Figure 5: Smartphone ownership, by age, December 2013
- Rapid shifts in how we use our phones
-
- Figure 6: Features used on cell phone in past 30 days, January 2011-September 2013
- What we think
Issues and Insights
-
- How will the transition to prepaid impact sales?
- Issues
- Implications
- Do BlackBerry and Windows have a future in phones?
- Issues
- Implications
- Is the iOS gaining steam or a soft target?
- Issues
- Implications
Trend Application
-
- Trend: Creative Class
- Trend: Experience is All
- Mintel Futures: East Meets West
Market Size and Forecast
-
- Key points
- Limited growth in volume
-
- Figure 7: US mobile phone unit sales, 2008-13
- Spend per handset rising
-
- Figure 8: Spend on most recent cell phone purchase, January 2011-September 2013
-
- Figure 9: Spend on most recent cell phone purchase, by age, January-September 2013
- Figure 10: Spend on most recent cell phone purchase, by household income, January-September 2013
- Replacement cycle at length of contract
-
- Figure 11: Time since last purchase of cell phone, by age, December 2013
Market Drivers
-
- Key points
- Carrier subsidies
-
- Figure 12: Time since last purchase of cell phone, by type of plan, December 2013
- Other incentives
- Sweetening the deal with additional incentives
- Trade-in programs
- New usage pushes for larger screens
-
- Figure 13: Features used on cell phone in past 30 days, January 2011-September 2013
- Figure 14: Preference for largest screen phones, by age, December 2013
-
- Figure 15: Preference for largest screen phones, by household income, December 2013
- Design = Self-expression
-
- Figure 16: Phones as form of self-expression, by age, January-September 2013
- Figure 17: Phones as form of self-expression, by household income, January-September 2013
- Tougher phones
- Usage and technology
-
- Figure 18: Attitudes toward cell phone usage, January 2011-September 2013
Leading Companies
-
- Key points
- Brands owned
-
- Figure 19: Brand of cell phone owned, January 2008-September 2013
-
- Figure 20: Brand of cell phone owned, by age, January-September 2013
- Figure 21: Brand of cell phone owned, by household income, January-September 2013
- Commitment to Apple
-
- Figure 22: Preference for iPhone, December 2013
- Figure 23: Preference for iPhone, by household income, December 2013
Innovations and Innovators
-
- Key points
- Asus PadFone Infinity a convertible phone/tablet
- iPhone 5s: Touch ID and iBeacon
- Moto X knows your voice
- Nokia Lumia 1020: Camera first
- Samsung and LG get curvy
- Kyocera gets tough
Marketing Strategies
-
- Overview of the brandscape: Are we running out of ideas?
- Third-party recommendations
-
- Figure 24: Samsung TV ad, “Accolades,” 2013
- Figure 25: HTC TV ad, “Full metal body,” 2013
- Talking to the man on the street
-
- Figure 26: Samsung Galaxy Gear TV ad, “In the Wild,” 2013
-
- Figure 27: HTC One, “On the street,” 2013
- Colors and casing
-
- Figure 28: Design as part of phone selection, by age, December 2013
- Figure 29: Apple iPhone 5c, “Greetings,” 2013
-
- Figure 30: Motorola Moto X ad, “Customize,” 2013
-
- Figure 31: Apple TV ad “Metal Mastered,” 2013
- Celebrity spokesmen
-
- Figure 32: HTC, “subversive” 15-sec, 2013
- Figure 33: HTC, “subversive” 2-minute, 2013
-
- Figure 34: HTC, “Lucas Bros,” 2013
- Figure 35: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 ad, “Golf lesson,” 2013
Social Media – Mobile Phones
-
- Key points
- Key social media metrics
-
- Figure 36: Key performance indicators, Dec. 16, 2012-Dec. 15, 2013
- Market overview
- Brand usage and awareness
-
- Figure 37: Brand usage and awareness of mobile phone brands retailers, December 2013
- Interaction with brands
-
- Figure 38: Interaction with mobile phone brands, December 2013
- Online conversations
-
- Figure 39: iPhone 5 features online discussion topic cluster, September 2013
-
- Figure 40: Online mentions, selected mobile phone brands, Jan. 13, 2012-Jan. 12, 2014
- Where are people talking about mobile phone brands?
-
- Figure 41: Mobile phone brands negative twitter discussions, Jan. 13, 2012-Jan. 12, 2014
- Figure 42: Mentions, by page type, selected mobile phone brands, Jan. 13, 2012-Jan. 12, 2014
- What are people talking about online?
-
- Figure 43: Mentions by topic of conversation, selected mobile phone brands, Jan. 13, 2012-Jan. 12, 2014
- Brand analysis
- iPhone
- What we think
- Samsung
-
- Figure 44: Samsung key social media indicators, January 2014
- Key online campaigns
- What we think
- BlackBerry
-
- Figure 45: BlackBerry key social media indicators, January 2014
- Key online campaigns
-
- Figure 46: Selected BlackBerry Twitter mentions, January 2013
- What we think
- HTC
-
- Figure 47: HTC key social media indicators, January 2014
- Key online campaigns
-
- Figure 48: Selected HTC tweets, August 2013
- What we think
- LG
-
- Figure 49: LG key social media indicators, January 2014
- Key online campaigns
- What we think
- Motorola
-
- Figure 50: Motorola key social media indicators, January 2014
- Key online campaigns
- What we think
Smartphone and OS Penetration
-
- Key points
- Segmenting veterans from novices
-
- Figure 51: Cell phone ownership by OS, by age, December 2013
-
- Figure 52: Cell phone ownership by OS, by household income, December 2013
-
- Figure 53: Cell phone ownership by OS, by intent to purchase in the next 6 months, December 2013
- Feature phone owner segments
-
- Figure 54: Profile of feature phone owners, by age and household income, December 2013
Preference for Next OS
-
- Key points
- Desired OS for next phone
-
- Figure 55: Desired OS for next phone, by age, December 2013
-
- Figure 56: Desired OS for next phone, by household income, December 2013
- Figure 57: Desired OS for next phone, by cell phone OS, December 2013
-
- Figure 58: Desired OS for next phone, by intent to upgrade phone or change provider, December 2013
- Figure 59: Desired OS for next phone, by type of plan, December 2013
Feature Usage
-
- Key points
- Multiple opportunities for product differentiation
-
- Figure 60: Features used in past 30 days, by age, January-September 2013
-
- Figure 61: Features used on cell phone in past 30 days, by household income, January-September 2013
Features Considered in Purchase
-
- Key points
- Consumers get savvy about specs
-
- Figure 62: Features considered in phone selection, by time since last phone purchase, December 2013
-
- Figure 63: Features considered in phone selection, by age, December 2013
-
- Figure 64: Features considered in phone selection, by intent to purchase a new phone in next six months, December 2013
Attitudes toward Price and OS
-
- Key points
- Intent to purchase highest among 18-34s
-
- Figure 65: Intent to upgrade, by age, December 2013
- Concern about price limited
-
- Figure 66: Use of personal price limits when phone buying, by age, December 2013
- Figure 67: Incidence of picking cheapest phone for needs, by age, December 2013
-
- Figure 68: Attitudes toward OS, by age, December 2013
-
- Figure 69: Incidence of picking cheapest phone for needs, by when phone was purchased, December 2013
-
- Figure 70: Attitudes toward OS, by when phone was purchased, December 2013
The Retail Experience
-
- Key points
- Preference for buying in person
-
- Figure 71: Preference for in-store versus online purchase of phone, by age, January-September 2013
- Figure 72: Preference for in-store versus online purchase of phone, by household income, January-September 2013
-
- Figure 73: In-store retailer as point of purchase decision, by age, December 2013
- Figure 74: Sales advice versus other research, by age, December 2013
-
- Figure 75: Sales advice versus other research, by intent to buy a new phone in next six months, December 2013
- Impact of OS on research and recs
-
- Figure 76: In-store retailer as point of purchase decision, by OS owned, December 2013
-
- Figure 77: Sales advice versus other research, by OS owned, December 2013
Race and Hispanic Origin
-
- Key points
- Whites spent least on current handset
-
- Figure 78: Cell phone ownership, by race and Hispanic origin, January-September 2013
- Figure 79: Spend on most recent cell phone purchase, by race and Hispanic origin, January-September 2013
- iPhone has greater appeal with Asians, Hispanics
-
- Figure 80: Brand owned, by race and Hispanic origin, January-September 2013
- Figure 81: Desired OS for next phone, by race/Hispanic origin, December 2013
- Asians, Hispanics more advanced users
-
- Figure 82: Attitudes toward cell phone usage, by race and Hispanic origin, January-September 2013
- Figure 83: Features used on cell phone in past 30 days, by race and Hispanic origin, January-September 2013
Appendix – Other Useful Consumer Tables
-
- By age
-
- Figure 84: Attitudes toward cell phone usage, by age, January-September 2013
- By household income
-
- Figure 85: Attitudes toward cell phone usage, by household income, January-September 2013
-
- Figure 86: Features considered in phone selection, by household income, December 2013
-
- Figure 87: Price limits and research conducted, by household income, December 2013
-
- Figure 88: Purchase decision factors, by household income, December 2013
- By race and Hispanic origin
-
- Figure 89: Purchase decision factors, by race/Hispanic origin, December 2013
-
- Figure 90: Features considered in cell phone selection, by race/Hispanic origin, December 2013
-
- Figure 91: Time since last purchase of cell phone, by race/Hispanic origin, December 2013
-
- Figure 92: Price limits and research conducted, by race/Hispanic origin, December 2013
Appendix – Social Media
-
- Brand usage or awareness
-
- Figure 93: Brand usage or awareness, December 2013
- Figure 94: iPhone usage or awareness, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 95: Samsung usage or awareness, by demographics, December 2013
- Figure 96: Motorola usage or awareness, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 97: BlackBerry usage or awareness, by demographics, December 2013
- Figure 98: HTC usage or awareness, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 99: LG usage or awareness, by demographics, December 2013
- Activities done
-
- Figure 100: Activities done, December 2013
- Figure 101: iPhone – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 102: iPhone – Activities done – I have contacted/interacted with the brand online on social media to, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 103: iPhone – Activities done – I follow/like the brand on social media because, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 104: iPhone – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 105: Samsung – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, December 2013
- Figure 106: Samsung – Activities done – I have contacted/interacted with the brand online on social media to, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 107: Samsung – Activities done – I follow/like the brand on social media because, by demographics, December 2013
- Figure 108: Samsung – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 109: Motorola – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, December 2013
- Figure 110: Motorola – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 111: BlackBerry – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, December 2013
- Figure 112: BlackBerry – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 113: HTC – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 114: HTC – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 115: LG – Activities done – I have looked up/talked about this brand online on social media, by demographics, December 2013
-
- Figure 116: LG – Activities done – I have researched the brand on social media to, by demographics, December 2013
- Online conversation
-
- Figure 117: Online mentions, selected mobile phone brands, Jan. 13, 2012-Jan. 12, 2014
Back to top