Mobile users around the world are delaying plans to upgrade or buy new phone handsets while also changing their current spending habits, due to the global economic crisis. These are some of the key the findings of the first Mobile Attitudes poll, carried out by mobile applications portal, GetJar. (wap.getjar.com).
The poll revealed that 78% of respondents from a worldwide audience are delaying plans to upgrade or buy a new mobile phone as a result of the current economic climate. Similarly, 76% of mobile phone users are immediately planning to reduce the amount they spend on phone usage.
When asked whether they had reduced spending on mobile phones in the last 12 months, more than 50% of respondents had not reduced their spending at all, or by as little as 10%, during that period. For those people who had reduced their spending, the economy was the reason given by just over one third of respondents, while 20% changed their usage habits to lower expenses, and a further 28% had switched to using free applications to avoid charges.
GetJar also asked its users to reveal which mobile services they spend most money on each month. 35% said SMS accounted for the greatest proportion of their mobile phone bill; 18.5% said it was voice services; and just under 17% identified data services. Premium services accounted for the largest part of the monthly mobile spend for 12% of the survey participants.
What we are seeing is a quite understandable reaction to the economic news that has dominated headlines all around the world, says GetJar CEO, Ilja Laurs. It will be interesting to see how these intentions are played out in reality over the coming months – whether they are based on short-term concerns that will fade quite quickly, or whether we will see long-lasting changes in consumer behaviour.
The survey also examined consumer experiences in relation to roaming charges, data costs, and who actually pays mobile phone bills around the world subscribers themselves, their parents, or their employers. The poll results and associated graphics can be found on GetJars Mobile Attitudes blog.
GetJar is a popular mobile application distribution and developer community, with over 200,000 registered developer and beta-tester accounts. In the past two years, there have been over 300 million downloads from the site. Downloads are currently running at the rate of over 16 million per month.