We knew it was going to happen at some point soon, but most analysts had predicted smartphones would surpass PCs in sales sometime in 2011 or even 2012 or later — not last year. New numbers from the IDC, however, show that mobile reached this important milestone in the last quarter of 2010. Over 100 million smartphone units were shipped worldwide — an 87.2% year-over-year increase — versus 92 million PC units.
The Year of Mobile Marketing
For mobile marketers (and marketers in general), this faster-than-expected adoption of smartphones is like a clarion call. Finally we may be able to stop asking (or answering) whether this is the year of mobile. We can use the proof that mobile really has arrived to gain better funding or support for our mobile initiatives and give mobile a clearer role in our overall marketing strategy. This includes determining how to use mobile in tandem with traditional media, how to best engage smartphone users, and how to build a persistent mobile presence.
Device Decisions: Smartphones Fragmentation
Greater smartphone adoption means more opportunities for marketers to use rich media and mobile video, customized smartphone apps, and other high-engagement mobile vehicles for their ads. And smartphone ownership is predicted to gain even more this year, as more mid-range and low-end smartphones will be introduced at lower prices for wider mass market appeal.
There is still, however, high mobile operating system fragmentation. The IDC report shows:
- 28% of the smartphone shipments last year were Nokia units, which run the Symbian platform and are most popular outside of North America
- 16% of the Q4 smartphone market share belonged to Apple (and Apple’s iOS)
- 14.5% of smartphones shipped were BlackBerries
- 9.6% were Samsung smartphones, running Android
- 8.5% of the smartphone market went to HTC, notable for having both Android and Windows Phone 7 devices
The remaining 23.3% for “Other” can be attributed to the myriad of Android smartphones flooding the market today. In fact, IDC cites Android as key to driving the smartphone market.
For mobile marketers this device fragmentation means more complexity. Before deciding to develop a custom mobile app for one mobile platform or another, use mobile analytics reports to determine which smartphone OSes dominate your customer traffic. Or you can focus on your mobile website development first and foremost, delivering one strong mobile Web experience for all devices, though that solution also has its drawbacks (including requiring users to have a data connection).
Use SMS Marketing for Broadest Reach, Continuity
Despite the rapid growth, smartphone sales last quarter were still only a portion (about 25%) of the total mobile phone sales (401.4 million mobile phone units). More people are — and will be — trading up to smartphones, but currently the majority of cell phone users have regular feature phones.
SMS marketing — though it might be considered old hat to those who are experimenting with newer forms of mobile marketing like augmented reality and pre-roll mobile video ads — remains the best way to reach the broadest number of consumers through mobile. It is key to the mobile advertising mix not only because of its great reach, but because it is cost-efficient, trusted by consumers (because of the opt-in best practice), and nearly effortless to set up. SMS marketing reaches both smartphones and “dumbphones.”
SMS marketing should perhaps form your mobile program base, because text messaging is highly accessible and direct, and it allows you to communicate with your customers with frequency. It’s easy to build an ongoing dialogue with your customers with SMS marketing.
More smartphone-specific mobile marketing (mobile banner ads, mobile video advertising, mobile apps, etc.) can add another layer of richness to that conversation, targeting specific user groups and engaging them on another level. As the growth in smartphone adoption shows, consumers are looking for that great mobile user experience and connection on the go.
[...] year-over-year increase. As a comparison, 92 million PC units were shipped in the same period—smarthphones are now outselling PCs.So-called “m-commerce” is rapidly accelerating as smartphone users download apps, browse the [...]