Why consumers are buying smartphones

Consumers are buying smartphones for their personal use, but value the classical contacts/email/calender/office applications.

In the mobile industry, we're all happy to see consumers picking up more advanced mobile phones. These devices are what we need to market the mobile internet services that are craving for more users. At first sight it seems that consumers are buying into smartphones for entertainment purposes. That's what we suspect when looking at the marketing collateral from Apple's iPhone, Nokia's N96 or Samsung G800.

When I ask friends and family why they are buying an advanced phone, the story is a little different. In Belgium, mobile devices are not subsidised by carrier contracts. This means that people need to pay full price for their phones. Most people therefore justify the expense by also using their advanced mobile for for business purposes.

When they consider a smartphone, people usually start with the iPhone at the top of their list. They go to the store and talk to the salesperson. At that moment they are presented with a number of alternatives: Symbian, Windows Mobile or Blackberry. And often they want to synchronise their calendar, read their mails and take an Excell spreadsheet or word document with them on the go. So they're faced with a tough choice.

In my opinion this is an opportunity for Microsoft. If they get their act together and convince manufacturers to produce more consumer friendly phones whilst keeping the office integration, they will gain market share.

People are walking into the store to buy an iPhone and they walk out with a more productive device. Apple's marketing is not only selling iPhones but moving the industry forward.

Competition is great!