Smartphones Headed for Mass Adoption in China

Driven by the continuous functional improvement of Smartphones, the introduction of middle-range models, better designs, and the enrichment of third-party applications, 10.46 million Smartphones shipped in China in 2006, double from 2005, reports In-Stat. The explosive growth indicates that the Chinese Smartphone market will soon enter the mass adoption stage, the high-tech market research firm says. Entertainment functions are Chinese Smartphone owners? primary favorites, rather than productivity functions, according to an In-Stat consumer survey.

"The most important three factors respondents would consider when purchasing their next Smartphone are function, brand and price," says Raymond Yan, In-Stat analyst. "Security, Internet access and synchronization with PCs are the top three problems that existing Smartphone users thought needed improvement."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• 97.9% of Smartphone users would purchase another Smartphone when their current phone needs replacement.
• More than half of Smartphone owners paid $25 or more every month for wireless services, 30% higher than that of non-Smartphone users.
• Most Smartphone users have no idea about the OS of the phone and do not care about it when purchasing Smartphones.

Posted to the site on 24th July 2007