Ever since Nokia Mobile Phones Inc. introduced the first in a new class of mobile phones with its Nokia 9000 Communicator, the excitement surrounding the idea of devices that combine wireless voice and data has been growing.
Nokia last week manufactured its 100 millionth mobile phone-a Nokia 9110 second-generation Communicator-almost three years since the first Communicator was introduced.
Other manufacturers have followed Nokia’s lead, introducing products or plans for smart phone products that promise to increase subscriber minutes of use and battle declining handset prices. Most recently, Qualcomm Inc. announced market trials of its pdQ smart phone, which integrates 3Com’s Palm Computing platform with its Code Division Multiple Access technology. Samsung Telecommunications America Inc. and Sony Electronics Inc. also have announced plans to introduce smart-phone products within the next year.
The excitement has yet to translate into market acceptance of such devices, however. Some analysts believe the future for smart phones is bright, but so far the market has yet to arrive.
A Yankee Group survey conducted earlier this year found that only about 5 percent of U.S. mobile users surveyed use mobile data services today, but more than 51 percent of respondents expressed an interest in using such services. The proliferation of mobile data has been hindered by factors including high prices, slow data speeds, limited applications and complexity, said Philip Redman, senior analyst, wireless/mobile communications at the Yankee Group, Boston.
The increasing popularity of the Internet could be the catalyst for the mobile data market’s success, and devices that integrate wireless voice and data are one way vendors hope to capitalize on that success.
In a recent report, “Wireless Intelligent Terminals: Smarter Than Your Average Phone,” Redman breaks the integrated voice and data devices into three types: SimpleWITs, SuperWITs and MegaWITs.
SimpleWITs are basic intelligent terminals that focus on voice services, such as Alcatel’s One Touch Pocket and Motorola Inc.’s CD930. SuperWITs, or smart phones, are mainly voice-centric devices that also offer e-mail, personal organizer functions and the ability to browse the Internet. MegaWITs, such as the Nokia 9000 Communicator or Qualcomm’s pdQ, are computing-centric devices with large screens and keyboards that are designed to deliver considerable computing power, full Internet access and data services, said Redman.
Several barriers need to be addressed before WITs will become successful, said Redman, such as lack of bandwidth, unreliable connections and high prices. MegaWITs cost as much as $1,000. That price point will have to drop to between $350 to $500 before the devices will be widely accepted, he said.
In addition, the report says a key to WITs’ success are applications that provide localized and personalized information that is pushed to the customer so that he or she can act quickly on the information.
According to the Yankee Group’s U.S. Mobile User Survey, 60 percent of existing wireless subscribers said they would prefer to use a wireless phone for mobile data. Familiarity and form factor topped the list of reasons why they preferred wireless phones for mobile data.
Matt Hoffman, senior analyst with Dataquest, San Jose, Calif., said he expects two types of devices will emerge-voice-centric devices that have a limited display and are designed to be portable, and data-centric devices such as a laptop or palmtop computer, which provide a better mechanism for viewing and editing data. The voice-centric phone, said Hoffman, will operate as a conduit between the cellular network and the device.
Hoffman does not dismiss the idea of integrated voice and data devices, but said one limitation to widespread adoption could be the unwillingness of users to disrupt voice conversations by pulling the phone away from their ear to use the data features of the device.
About 20 percent of the market, however, will adopt integrated devices, predicted Hoffman.
“Some people won’t want to carry two devices and they will put up with the integrated device,” said Hoffman. “The rest will use voice-centric phones that enhance the connectivity of data-centric devices to the wide area network.”
