Fred Harteis Editors Note: This new series article is regarding the wireless industry and how older users are adapting to the new cell phone world. It seems that the older generation is starting to get a hang of the cell phones. Anyone with an interest in the wireless market might find this article interesting.
New reports from the Yankee Group find that young people are still more likely to use mobile data services, but older subscribers are beginning to move beyond simple voice service.
There is no question that kids love their mobile phones. Earlier this year a study by NOP World found that 44% of US tweens and teens between the ages of 10 and 18 own a cell phone. In fact, 16 million of them own a mobile phone.
Two new reports from the Yankee Group, the "2005 US Mobile User Survey" and "2005 US Mobile User Teen Survey," find that family plans have been the main driver of teen cell phone adoption over the past few years, but that may be changing.
Going forward, the Yankee Group says prepaid and hybrid plans will drive future growth. According to its surveys, the proportion of teens on prepaid/hybrid plans has risen 8 percentage points since 2004.
Older users have started to embrace and regularly use text messaging — and the proportion of adult mobile consumers who indicated they had picture messaging capabilities doubled during the 2004 to 2005 period, to reach nearly one-fourth of mobile consumers.
Nearly two-thirds of mobile consumers indicated a willingness to spend more on data services. The youth market shows the strongest interest in music. Older users focus on productivity aids.
"The
"The youth market, which seems to grow younger each year, cannot be ignored," said Dr. Elkin. "Young people are key early adopters of wireless content and services, and, as such, play an important role in determining what does and does not work on a handheld device."
Source: emarketer.com
About Fred: Fred Harteis is president of the I Team Headquarters. He is a successful entrepreneur how has lead many business ventures.