“The world’s smallest PCS phone.”
“The world’s lightest mobile phone.”
“The smallest and lightest CDMA phone in existence.”
The battle for the tiniest phone is no longer just a matter of shape and size. The technological standard used by the phone is now a clear differentiator.
The new Q phone by Qualcomm Inc. doesn’t claim to be the smallest phone-it claims to be the smallest phone for Code Division Multiple Access technology.
Philips Consumer Communications doesn’t just say their new Genie phone is the smallest and lightest mobile phone; with an extra capacity battery, it has longer standby time than any other phone using Global System for Mobile communications technology.
L.M. Ericsson says it has “the world’s smallest PCS phone,” for PCS-1900 MHz networks, the 4-ounce CF 788.
An important point about each of these miniature phones: they only support a single technology and a single frequency. Phones that support multiple technologies and multiple frequencies are weighing in a bit heavier.
Still, a tiny phone has its place in the marketing world, as evidenced by Motorola Inc.’s use of the StarTac phone to illustrate its technological prowess.
“When phones weighed 16 ounces, it was important to get them smaller and lighter,” said Micheal Parker, vice president of marketing for Ericsson Inc. “But at 4 ounces, I’m not sure how much lighter they can get.”
Miniaturizing the phones takes the cost out of the production process, he said. The radio board continues to get smaller, and chipsets are so small they must now be built robotically, the precision of which leads to improved quality, Parker said.
The biggest advantage of these small phones, in most cases, is their size. The same functions are generally available in similar models just a bit bigger. So, is the size difference something for which a customer will pay several hundred dollars more?
“That’s the multimillion dollar question that manufacturers are about to find the answer to,” said Dr. Noel Dunivant, senior vice president of research and strategic planning for FGI Inc., a Chapel Hill, N.C., research group.
“The buyer has to see a trade off [for the price]. Even the larger phones are small, but with the same functionality. My guess is that the manufacturer who wants to score will provide a small phone but at a moderate price,” Dunivant said.
It is possible that tiny phones can boost airtime usage, said Jeffrey Belk, director of marketing for Qualcomm’s Subscriber Products Division.
Qualcomm found, through research, that people don’t carry their phone often. “With small phones, they’re encouraged to carry them and leave them on,” Belk said. This leads to more airtime usage, a joy to carriers.
The Genie phone by Philips has a pop-down mouthpiece, which the manufacturer said supports a preference by some American users to have the microphone close to their mouth.
Lucent Technologies Inc. believes smaller, lighter phones have a high level of acceptance among early adapters and people constantly on the move.
However, “Our studies show that frequent users prefer the more traditional ear-piece/mouthpiece form factor, which closely replicates the corded telephones in our homes and offices,” said John Skalko, media relations manager for Lucent’s Global Wireless Products Group in Piscataway, N.J.
The weight of phones has dropped dramatically in the past few years, from 10 ounces to 8 ounces to 6 ounces and now even less. Shapes and sizes have changed as well.
“The phones could be microscopic if not for the three things that dictate size,” said Jeff Nelson, marketing manager of Mitsubishi Wireless Communications, a terminal manufacturer. Mitsubishi says it is launching its smallest phone ever in the second quarter, the G100 for PCS-1900 networks.
The three things dominating phone size decisions have been the liquid crystal display, the keypad and the battery.
“As text messaging becomes more prevalent, the size of the LCD becomes more critical. You want as many lines as possible, and if it’s too small, it’s difficult to read,” Nelson said.
Keypads must be large enough for most fingers, with readable numbers. Nelson said voice recognition is just being introduced and can’t be considered a reliable replacement for the keypad at this time.
Batteries are often the heaviest part of the phone. Lithium ion batteries are still expensive to manufacture, and are used primarily on premium phones for which the customer will pay more than the subsidized price of $150 to $200, which most carriers are asking for standard digital phones.
On the flip side, safety customers may want a heavier phone, under the impression it will be more durable, Nelson suggested.
Design and comfort of the phone also are important, “Whether you are conscious of it or not, if a phone is uncomfortable to put on your ear, you won’t talk as long,” Belk said.
