November 01, 2006
In-Stat: SmartPhones Most Popular in U.S. Among Business Travelers
By Mae Kowalke, TMCnet Contributor
Feature-rich handsets with both voice and high-speed data capabilities—better known as SmartPhones—so far are most popular in the U.S. among business travelers, In-Stat said in a new report out today.
In particular, the report focused on what In-Stat (News - Alert) called “high usage US business travelers”—those who spend $300 or more per month on wireless services and who are on the road at least 30 percent of the time.
It appears that these types of travelers are the group driving adoption (albeit still early-stage adoption) of advanced cell phones.
“Their use of SmartPhones as the primary device of the two they carry is already starting to rival BlackBerry (News - Alert),” In-Stat analyst Allyn Hall said in a statement about the business travelers.
Next-generation mobile phone suppliers often face an uphill battle getting users to adopt the newer technologies associated with SmartPhones. But In-Stat said that increased work to build market awareness, along with smart decisions about design tradeoffs, could improve the situation.
Mae Kowalke previously wrote for Cleveland Magazine in Ohio and The Burlington Free Press in Vermont. To see more of her articles, please visit Mae Kowalke’s columnist page. Also check out her Wireless Mobility blog.
