comScore recently released a new report highlighting several key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry that companies considering developing mobile applications should consider.
Apple is ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 39% of the market share. Samsung follows in second place with a 23% of the market share, HTC is in third with 8.7%, Motorola follows with 7.8% and LG comes in with 6.7%.
Android continues to led as the top smartphone platform with 52% of the market share. Clearly neither of these platforms can be ignored when it comes to mobile application development.
The most interesting point from the new comScore report is the growth of the U.S. smartphone market itself. 141 million people in the U.S. alone now own smartphones (59% of the market, as of the end of May 2013). This number is up 6% since February 2013 making for some incredible growth numbers.
While we see that digital coupon redemption rates are climbing right now, they may not provide the biggest bang for the buck. Mobile coupons may be the area where retailers are going to find the best return for their advertising dollars at the moment. We find that modern consumers are typically looking for business locations and deals for immediate use, and are not saving offers as much as they used to do, which opens the door for mobile delivered coupons to be highly successful.
In fact we are seeing research from some sources that indicates mobile coupons have 10 times higher redemption rates than non-mobile coupons. Which is not surprise since we now live in a mobile society. Right around 85 percent of the world’s population have a subscription to a mobile service, which works out to just under 6 billion people. Annual mobile application downloads are expected to increase from 10.7 billion in 2010 to nearly 183 billion by 2015 (IDC forecast) and the growth of mobile is not seeing any signs of slowing in the near future.
The great thing about mobile marketing is that it allows a customer’s location to be a factor in determining which promotion they will see. Therefore ads can be tailored to a customer’s location, which increases open and redemption rates. Mobile coupons can be tailored to your customer as well. Lets say your consumers utilize a loyalty membership program with your establishment that is tied to a mobile app on their phone. You can then offer mobile coupons on products they already buy or that you think they may like based on their purchase history. This is like the suggestions based on your browsing history that Amazon has on their web site and app.
One way to make sure that your mobile marketing program succeeds is to offer things the customer needs. Don’t just pitch your self on a smaller screen like its an advertisement, be relevant and provide something of value to your consumer base. Knowing the location of your customers is an additional piece of information that can help you carefully target the information you deliver so that it is as relevant as possible.
In a recent study by International Data Corporation, they conclude that number of smartphones to be sold around the globe in 2013 will surpass the sales of basic feature phones. The massive growth of these devices highlights the need for businesses to have a solid plan for mobile application development (on both of the major platforms, businesses can’t ignore either iPhone applications or Android applications) and a mobile web site.
Sales of smartphones will increase 32.7 percent for this year over 2012, with forecasts from the International Data Corporation, predicting 958.8 million units to be shipped, compared with 722.5 million units in 2012. The decline in smartphone prices is believed to have been a major factor driving growth. In 2011, the average smartphone price was $443, by 2012 that number dropped to $407 and in 2013 it is predicted to finish at about $372. In the future it is expected that prices will drop even further and by 2017, the average smartphone price is forecast to drop to $309.
International Data Corporation predicts that smartphones will account for 52.2 percent of all mobile phone shipments by the end of 2013. Ramon Llamas, a research manager at IDC, even was willing to describe 2013 as a “watershed year for smartphones.” An interesting trend is that nearly two-thirds of all smartphones bought in the world in 2013 will be purchased by people in developing countries, says the IDC, whereas this number was just 43% in 2010. This is assumed to be driven by price reduction as well. “Smartphones have become increasingly common in emerging markets and it is often the first affordable means of computing for these markets,” said Ryan Reith, IDC program manager. “These are markets where average personal income is far less than in developed markets, and therefore vendors have been forced to create smartphone computing experiences for the low end of the market.”
Clearly businesses must address the shift occurring the market and look at the demographics of their target market. Mobile applications and web sites are increasingly important with each new year as we see smartphones continue to proliferate the market.