- Lady Ada’s Electronic Garden:Adafruit Industries’ Founding Engineer is a Fertile Mother of Invention
- NO Typing: Simple Voice Commands and Sophisticated Software: Is there call to eliminate the cellular
A saying that can be true for dealers in the wireless world
By Joe Cufari, Vice President, Personal Communications Devices
For wireless dealers, what’s hot in the wireless marketplace is not necessarily the latest and greatest product. Dealers know well that exclusive carrier agreements can make typical “hot products” difficult to get. Instead of feeling disadvantaged, wireless dealers might focus on other market sectors in which sales tend to be strong. Two such tried and true categories that typically perform well in the marketplace year after year are simple phones and messaging phones.
Simple phones, which are geared toward consumers who are just interested in voice communications, are still a huge part of the wireless market. These devices offer size and weight advantages over the more advanced phones and, true to their name, they are easy to use to use. Simple phones also offer great battery life, enabling users to go for several days without charging their phone, which can be a huge convenience to many people. The Verizon Wireless Escapade is one example of a simple voice handset that is extremely light, simple to use and that is also a world phone.
Another advantage of simple devices is price. There are still many consumers who are looking for an affordable entry-level device. Tough economic times in combination with the growth of ‘pay-as-you-go’ plans have produced a spike in adoption of these more basic devices.
This simple phone category is expected to grow in 2010 as consumers select phones that allow them to define their cellular budget without worry of overage charges. Many parents select the ‘pay-as-you-go’ option when purchasing phones for their children. Many manufacturers and marketers of wireless devices will develop and bring to market specific products to meet increasing simple phone demand. PCD, for example, will have several entrants in this category in 2010.
Messaging phones geared toward text messaging fans are fashionable, affordable and feature either a full QWERTY keypad or touch screen. The messaging phone category will also grow in 2010 as the carriers start to require specific data plans for the more advanced smart phones, as several billion text messages continue to flow through their networks each year.
Many consumers don’t have the need to browse the web or utilize different web-enabled applications, yet they want the option of non-voice communications. The Verizon Wireless Razzle is one of these messaging devices that also specialize in a strong audio platform for those who want to carry one easy-to-use device and take their music with them wherever they should go, and it’s just one of many examples.
Overall, if the products that you’re selling are end-of-life, remember that it’s not the end of the selling cycle. Many end-of-life devices often have great features that consumers want, but at a much lower price—so the selling opportunities still abound. Moreover, the product life cycle for carriers has continued to shrink so that the products are still fresh but are only brought to end of life so that other new devices can come to market. This offers a strong opportunity for dealers to take advantage of great phones at great prices, now.
In the end, it’s in the hands of dealers to be the ones that bring products to life when they bring end-of-life products to market.