Industry research firm TNS is forecasting that 2010 will mark the end of the economic downturn for the mobile phone industry, citing a new survey that finds from 53 percent of Americans plan to buy a new mobile phone in the next six months. And in Canada, the percentage is even higher: 55 percent.
“Increased consumer confidence, pent-up demand and a raft of new smartphones have created conditions akin to a ‘perfect storm’ for 2010,” said TNS senior VP Tom Buehrer, in a statement. “Purchase intent is at unprecedented levels and has risen dramatically since last year, which presents the industry with an opportunity to drive handset sales and simultaneously build incremental revenue through content and data plans.”
According to TNS, touchscreen phones and QWERTY keypads are on consumers’ minds, with 29 percent of U.S. consumers looking for a touchscreen on their next cell phone, and 23 percent looking for a QWERTY keypad. (In Canada, those figures are 28 percent and 19 percent, respectively.) TNS also claims that 19 percent of american consumers are likely to buy a netbook computer in the next six months: that number matches consumers’ reported plans to by a notebook computer. In contrast, only five percent say they plan to buy desktop PCs.
TNS does note that consumer confusion over a plethora of similar-seeming devices may cause consumers to forestall purchases, and some 27 percent of U.S. consumers claimed poor usability was preventing them from tapping into new mobile services.
TNS’s survey claims to have covered 24,000 consumers in 35 markets in the U.S. and Canada.
