There are devotees of new technology, the people who set trends and who chase it further down to latest upgrades. But how often do mobile users think about upgrading their mobile phones and what are they looking for, are a couple of questions about which smartphone vendors have been scratching their heads.
According to a recent survey done by Counterpoint Research analysts in India, two in three users plan to upgrade to a new mobile phone in the next twelve months.
In its survey report, Counterpoint attributes multiple factors that drive customers’ intention to upgrade phones anytime sooner.
Firstly, many users are looking to upgrade to a phone with 4G LTE capability and especially VoLTE ready, which is mainly driven by Reliance Jio’s VoLTE-only network and consumers’ high intention to switch providers to Jio.
Secondly, many users are looking for a phone with better memory, storage or battery capacity, driving an urgent desire to upgrade as smartphones become central to their lives.
Among other findings from the survey – almost one in three respondents were considering phones with a fingerprint sensor and better front facing ‘selfie’ cameras as key features in their next purchase.
The researchers found that online is becoming a preferred channel for mobile phone purchases.
Respondents highlighted that online reviews of a product are the most important source of information for their pre-purchase research.
Seven out of ten respondents consider online stores as their preferred point of purchase. Furthermore, Flipkart is the most preferred online retail platform for buying a mobile phone.
According to Senior Analyst, Pavel Naiya, “Online retail platform competition is heating up. While Amazon is investing heavily in India, Flipkart has successfully secured $1.4 Billion in funding to secure its place as leading online channel. We expect ultimately there will be three dominant online sales channels. Paytm is currently in a minority position, but the strategic investment by Alibaba suggests it will grow in strength while Snapdeal fades.” strategic investment by Alibaba suggests it will grow in strength while Snapdeal fades.”
“With rising competition, these platforms need to create differential push and pull strategy. Firstly, by adopting an effective social commerce strategy and secondly investing in next generation technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to utilize the huge data on online purchase patterns,” she suggested.
