Smartphone Definitions (Will Strauss)
>> Smartphone Market Definition Needs to Change
Will Strauss
Forward Concepts Wireless-DSP Newsletter (from my email inbox)
December 6, 2011
In my last issue, I asked my readers, "Is there a better way to define cellphone classes, before they all become smartphones?"
Defining smartphones from the $100 class to the $700 class under a single label is unhelpful from a market analysis standpoint. Consider, "I can't define love, but I'll know it when I see it." In a similar vein, this leads to "I'll know a smartphone when I see it." Several suggestions for a better definition have been proffered by my readers. Here are a few:
1) The basic (and boring) classification:
• Entry-level smartphones
• Mid-tier smartphones
• High-tier smartphones
Unfortunately, the definitions of each of these are pretty fuzzy.
2) From the use cases:
• PC Smartphones: Always the latest features running on the latest O/Ses.
• Social Networking Smartphones: Focused on social networking, affordable for kids.
• Emerging Market Smartphones: like PC Smartphones, but with mobile payments.
Again, the definitions of each are also fuzzy.
3) From a finer definition of Feature phones:
• Basic phone: can't access the Web.
• Feature phone: can do Web but is not upgradeable through user-controlled apps (i.e., You can do Facebook, etc., only if it's pre-installed)
• Smartphone can install apps through an open O/S & standard, public APIs, apps store & ecosystem
With "Android lite" a possibility, smartphone classifications need to stand the test of time (for at least a couple of years).
Note that some people insist that the original 2G iPhone of 2007 was not a smartphone, but was only a feature phone -- since you could not install apps on it. Also in 2007, Nokia introduced the N95 which was a true smartphone: Nokia was years ahead on almost anything else you might want in a smartphone. The N95 was multitasking, had 3G, GPS, 5 megapixel camera, LED flash, MMS, Wi-Fi and video, Moreover, the N95 had a huge apps store backing it.
Unfortunately for Nokia, the N95 was not promoted in the U.S., and the sleek and sexy (but less-capable) iPhone 3 soon overtook it. Now, beginning with the highly praised Lumia family of WP7 smartphones that are selling well in Europe and elsewhere, Nokia is negotiating with AT&T to re-introduce its products to the U.S. market. Maybe they can break the tie between the Apple and Android crowds.
Meanwhile, I'm still looking for better market granularity on smartphones. Your comments will be appreciated.
I wish you all a very happy holiday season and you'll next hear from me in 2012.
Will Strauss
President & Principal Analyst
Forward Concepts
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