Cellphones business: more style, less Swiss knife
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The SF Chronicle published a nice write-up today on design in the mobile phone industry, confirming a trend that we already stressed here at 21talks.
“While there is still a market for unremarkable silver-and-black phones, throwbacks to the dawn of the cellular age, a new generation of devices is playing like never before on color, form and materials.”
“The cell phone industry is turning to design also out of necessity as manufacturers work to sell more phones. With more than 200 million cell phone subscribers in the United States, the market is approaching saturation, placing companies under more pressure to get people to buy new devices.”
We totally agree and add that by far, the US market hasn’t the highest penetration rate in the world. Some countries have more cellphones than residents, for instance, Luxembourg with 140.7% mobile phone penetration, or Israel with 125.9%. This is obvious: the customization/styling cellphone trend will impact the majority of mobile phone manufacturers.
“Industry leaders said the next generation of phones will play even more heavily on colors, materials and finish. Samsung is working on phones that have magnesium shells, and Motorola is trying to perfect its metal casings, including some that feel soft to the touch and others that look like jewelry.”
Although Nokia has this big tradition of stylish cellphones, others would have to learn. Motorola teamed up with Apple for its Rokr, but would this be enough to keep away software/hardware companies like Microsoft and its Zune to enter the market?
Aug 7, 2006 | By Nuno
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