Cellphones

Smartphones go mainstream with all age groups.

Phillip Nones Business, Demographics, Economics, Marketing Research, Social Commentary, Social Media , , , , , ,

Today, behaviors across the board are far more “similar” than they are “different.”

Over the past few years, smartphones have clawed their way into becoming a pervasive presence among consumers in all age groups.

That’s one key takeaway message from Deloitte’s 2017 Mobile Consumer Survey covering U.S. adults.

According to the recently-released results from this year’s research, ~82% of American adults age 18 or older own a smartphone or have ready access to one. It’s a significant jump from the ~70% who reported the same thing just two years ago.

While smartphone penetration is highest among consumers age 18-44, the biggest increases in adoption are coming in older demographic categories.  To illustrate, ~67% of Deloitte survey respondents in the age 55-75 category own or have ready access to smartphones, which is big increase from the ~53% who reported so in 2015.

It represents an annual rate of around 8% for this age category.

The Deloitte research also found that three’s little if any difference in the behaviors of age groups in terms of how they interact with their smartphones. Daily smartphone usage is reported by 9 in 10 respondents regardless of the age bracket.

Similarly-consistent across all age groups is the frequency that users check their phones during any given day. For the typical consumer, it happens 47 times daily on average.  Fully 9 in 10 report looking at their phones within an hour of getting up, while 8 in 10 do the same just before going to sleep.

At other times during the day, the incidence of smartphone usage quite high in numerous circumstances, the survey research found:

  • ~92% of respondents use smartphones when out shopping
  • ~89% while watching TV
  • ~85% while talking to friends or family members
  • ~81% while eating at restaurants
  • ~78% while eating at home
  • ~54% during meetings at work

As for the “legacy” use of cellphones, a smaller percentage of respondent’s report using their smartphones for making voice calls. More than 90% use their smartphone to send and receive text messages, whereas a somewhat smaller ~86% make voice calls.

As for other smartphone activities, ~81% are sending and receiving e-mail messages via their smartphone, ~72% are accessing social networks on their smartphones at least sometimes during the week, and ~30% report making video calls via their smartphones – which is nearly double the incidence Deloitte found in its survey two years ago.

As for the respondents in the survey who use smartwatches, daily usage among the oldest age cohort is the highest of all: Three-quarters of respondents age 55-75 reported using their smartwatches daily, while daily usage for younger consumers was 60% or even a little below.  So, in this one particular category, older Americans are actually ahead of their younger counterparts in adoption and usage.

The Deloitte survey shows pretty definitively that it’s no longer very valid to segregate older and younger generations. While there may be some slight variations among younger vs. older consumers, the reality is that market behaviors are far more the same than they are different.  That’s the first time we’ve seen this dynamic playing out in the mobile communications segment.

Additional findings from the Deloitte research can be found in an executive summary available here.

Cutting the Telephone Cord

Phillip Nones Demographics, Social Commentary , , ,

ccA new milestone has been reached in the United States:  For the first time, more than half of all American adults live in households with cellphones but no landline telephones.

That’s the key takeaway finding from a recent survey of ~24,000 Americans age 18 and above conducted by market research firm GfK MRI.

This finding  mean that in just six years, the percentage of adults living in cellphone-only households has doubled. In GfK’s 2010 research, the percentage was just 26%.

Not surprisingly, there are significant differences in the findings based on age demographics:

  • Millennials (born 1977 to 1994): ~71% live in cellphone-only households
  • Generation X (born 1965 to 1976): ~55%
  • Boomers (born 1946 to 1964): ~40%
  • Seniors (born before 1946): ~23%

Interestingly, despite their relatively low adoption rate, the percentage of Seniors living in cellphone-only households actually quadrupled over the past six years.

As for an ethnic breakdown, Hispanic Americans are significantly more likely to live free of landline phones compared to the other three major groups:

  • Hispanic Americans: ~67% live in cellphone-only households
  • Asian Americans: ~54%
  • Whites: ~51%
  • African Americans: ~50%

Perhaps surprisingly, the Northeast region of the United States has the lower incidence of cellphone-only households (~39%), compared rates all over 50% in the other three regions. As it turns out, the Northeast has relatively higher levels bundled communication services (TV, Internet, landline and cellphone services), but one suspects that the figures will come into alignment in the next few years and many of those bundled programs bite the dust.

At this rate of change, could we be seeing effectively the end of landline phone service within the next two decades? It seems likely so.

How about you?  Have your cut the phone cord yet?  And did you regret it for even one minute?

Is Telephone Landline Usage Doing a Disappearing Act?

Phillip Nones Business, Demographics, Marketing Communications, Social Commentary , , , , , , ,

phoneIt may be a surprise to some people, but we’re getting pretty close to half of all households in America that are now without any sort of telephone landline.

[Actually, it’s not quite there yet – the percentage is ~44%.  But the trend is clear, and it’s accelerating.]

The latest statistics come to us courtesy of GfK Mediamark Research.  And GfK’s consumer survey findings align with other published survey data from U.S. government sources.

Just five years ago, only about one in four American adults lived in cellphone-only households.  But since then, the cellphone-only population has jumped by ~70%.

And when we look at a breakdown by age demographics, it becomes even more obvious that we’re in the midst of a transformation.

Here are the stark figures:

  • Pre-Boomers (born before 1946): ~13% live in cellphone-only households
  • Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1965): ~32% live in cellphone-only HHs
  • Generation X (born from 1965 to 1976): ~45% live in cellphone-only HHs
  • Millennials (born from 1977 to 1994): ~64% live in cellphone-only HHs

Mirroring the age statistics are ownership rates for smartphones:  very high among millennials down to very low among pre-Boomers:

  • Millennials: ~88% own a smartphone
  • Generation X: ~79 own a smartphone
  • Baby Boomers: ~56 own a smartphone
  • Pre-Boomers: ~20% own a smartphone

[Additional topline findings from the GfK research can be viewed here.]

Based on the trends we’re seeing, how soon will it be that telephone landlines become a thing of the past?  I’d be interested in hearing your perspectives.

Mobile Phone Users: Driven to Distraction?

Phillip Nones Uncategorized , , , , , ,

Texting while driving ... and other unsafe habits of cellphone usersIt’s pretty well determined by now that the plethora of new communications conveniences that have come on the scene in recent years have done just as much to complicate our lives as to simplify them.

Certainly, they have introduced new types of dangers. Take mobile phones and driving. For those who have heard the sickening cellphone recording of the young driver who has a fatal car accident while discussing wedding plans with her family over the phone … it’s a chilling example of the worst kind of thing that can happen.

But despite the fact that people claim to understand the risks of driving while using a mobile phone, most Americans continue just such behavior, believing themselves to be better than average drivers.

At least, that’s the finding of research firm Harris Interactive, which surveyed nearly 2,200 American adult cellphone users in June 2011.

About two-thirds of those queried in the Harris online survey admitted to using their cellphones while driving. In addition, nearly one in four send or read text messages while they’re behind the wheel.

As stark as those figure are, they are actually down somewhat from an earlier Harris survey conducted in 2009. In that study, ~72% of drivers with cellphones reported that they used them while driving, and nearly 30% texted while driving.

The newer figures remain disconcerting, though, because cellphone distraction is reported to cause more than 300,000 injuries in the United States each year – and several thousand fatalities as well.

A study published by Human Factors Quarterly has concluded that motorists who are engaged in cellphone conversations while driving are actually less capable of handling the wheel than intoxicated drivers with a blood alcohol level exceeding .08.

But back to the Harris survey. It found that ~57% of the respondents consider themselves to be “better than average” drivers (only 1% consider themselves worse than average). And for men, that figure is even higher at 66%. Since it’s basically impossible for two thirds of the male drivers to be above average, clearly the perception is not matched by the reality.

Not surprisingly, some of the more alarming findings from Harris are coming from the younger set. Texting while driving is much more common in this cohort; nearly half of the drivers under the age of 35 reported that they send or read text message while driving.

Oh, and by the way … ~60% of drivers continue to use handheld phones while driving, rather than the hands-free models. (Not that the hands-models have been shown to be that much safer … although that’s what most respondents in the Harris survey believe.)

More of the sobering findings from the Harris research survey can be found here.

Next on Wal-Mart’s Low-Price Hit List: Cell Phone Service

Phillip Nones Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wal-Mart logoIf you’re like many people, your monthly cell phone bill has been creeping higher and higher over time. The addition of second and third lines, family plans, text and data messaging has provided big leaps in functionality at the cost of just modest additional fees … but those fees do add up.

Today, just in time for the recession, the average monthly cell phone bill for Americans, at nearly $80, is as high as it’s ever been. So it’s no wonder that new suppliers have been nosing around this market for awhile now, including those offering VoIP phone services over the web at a fraction of the cost.

And now Wal-Mart has gotten into the fray. On course to become the low-price leader in seemingly every imaginable consumer product and service, Wal-Mart has decided to roll out a new wireless cell phone service called Straight Talk.

Instead of the plethora of “complicated, convoluted and confusing” contracts that seem to be so common in the industry, Wal-Mart’s Straight Talk is offering just two plans – and neither of them requires a signed contract.

One plan offers unlimited minutes, texting and mobile web user for $45 per month. A cheaper, $30 monthly plan allows for 1,000 voice minutes, 1,000 text messages and 30 megabytes of web usage. Consumers may refill their monthly balances by buying refill cards at Wal-Mart stores or by registering online.

And what about those irritating “add on” charges that always seem to add $10 or $15 extra to your monthly bill? Wal-Mart’s aiming to limit those as well. For example, 411 directory assistance calls are free.

A pilot program, conducted this summer partnership with TracFone Wireless at 234 stores, was so successful that Wal-Mart has decided to introduce the program nationally in time for the holiday shopping season. In fact, the rollout begins this week at 3,200 Wal-Mart stores across the country. Wal-Mart is promoting the service as one that will save consumers ~$500 a year.

Considering how cost-conscious people are at the present time, the promise of savings like that are enough to encourage even those families saddled with early termination penalty clauses in their service contracts to ditch their current suppliers.

Here’s a prediction: It won’t be long before Verizon and AT&T begin to offer similarly discounted and/or no-contract services to their customers. Now, if only they had done so before … they might actually have higher customer satisfaction scores than their current mediocre (or worse) ratings.