Nearly Half Of Consumers Want Mobile ConvergenceNearly Half Of Consumers Want Mobile Convergence

Nearly half of U.S. consumers want a single mobile device for all their services, according to a survey conducted by Data Development Worldwide.

The survey revealed 40% of U.S. consumers looking to make a mobile device purchase in the next three months wanted a single gadget that was flexible and could handle a variety of services. Smartphones and ultra-light laptops topped the list, and these were followed, in order, by full-sized laptops, GPS devices, and netbook computers.

This desire creates new growth avenues for companies like smartphone makers, but it also means companies will be competing with non-traditional sources. For example, Nokia has experience marketing and selling against companies like Apple, Samsung, and Motorola, but if it jumps into the laptop game like it has hinted, it would be going head-to-head with the likes of Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and others.

"Growth strategies often do not take into account consumers making trade-offs across different device categories," said Chip Lister, managing director of Data Development Worldwide, in a statement. "It is essential that marketers ensure they have data that can identify which products and brands are potential substitutes rather than set up a design around preconceptions of how the market is structured."

The survey found customers are interested in mobile convergence devices, but these users want the gadget's capabilities to have a good implementation and user experience. Apple's iPhone 3GS is a good example of a mobile convergence device that has been popular with consumers. The touch-screen smartphone can potentially take the place of a standalone cell phone, mobile e-mail device, personal music player, personal digital assistant, GPS navigation device, and a portable video recorder.

"Just because technology makes a capability possible doesn't mean the consumers will value it," said Lister. "The device with the right mix of capabilities delivered at the right price point is going to win in this market."

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