Despite a worldwide downturn (many countries in recession) people are still very much buying smartphones.

Sales of BlackBerrys, iPhones and other smartphone models are ever increasing and projections are they will increase over 25 percent this year, according to Gartner, a research business. At the same time total cellphone sales are expected to fall. 

The surge in smartphones is a case of a serious up trend in technology. And as is often true of new technology, the smartphone report is as more about customer psychology as it is about the technology itself.

For a growing number of people, the social expectation is that one needs always connected and reachable instantly :-) The smartphone, it would seem, is the instrument of choice for that connection.  Apparently, many find it worth the cost both as a business or personal tool and as a status symbol.

The new social norm is that you should respond to anyone about anything within a couple of hours, if not sooner. And when someone does not get this immediate reply they you are out of it socially -  or worse they take it personally and worry that you no longer like them.  :-)

The spread of this and other new social assumptions reflects the proliferation of e-mail nearly twenty years ago. At some point in the 1990s, it became socially unacceptable for business people and most personal individuals to not have an e-mail address.

Smartphones are NOT cheap. The phones, even with routine discounts from wireless carriers, usually cost $100 to $300, while the data and calling service plans are typically $80 to $100 a month.

Smartphones like Blackberries or iPhones allow users to be online no matter where they are, without a computer.  Consider the business user who receives an email for a new job or a new project proposal.  If another job candidate or sales person replies six hours later, but you get back immediately with a message that says ‘Sent from my iPhone,’ that is  a checkmark for you.

That is certainly the sort of message the wireless industry would like to reinforce. “Smartphones are essential to 21st century business" is the message they want out there daily.

Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, is offering introduction of less business-oriented phones and this helps explain the snowballing growth in BlackBerry users. They now number 25 million, nearly double the total a year ago and a tenfold increase in the last four years. iPhone has always sought the personal use along with the business user.

According to industry analysts there is still great room for gains in smartphone sales because, though rising, smartphone sales will still account for only a quarter of total cellphone shipments in the United States this year. And a host of new smartphone handset and software offerings are coming this year, from Apple, R.I.M., Nokia, Microsoft, Google, Palm and others.

Now even the non-tech individual searches the Web, takes notes and sends e-mail with his iPhone or Blackberry. When he or she has trouble sleeping, they reach for their phone to read news or check e-mail. And now the average user probably finds himself buying fewer magazines and reading more online.

Let's remember though:   The smartphone offers information feeds. “It can be a powerfull tool and assistant. But it is very important to make sure this new technology helps you be productive and not simply interfere with life's tasks. Let's be sure to manage the time and information used and balance its use with real people connection!

Joseph Horton
jh@namada.com
http://namada.com

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