Sony-Ericsson mobile phones topped the list of overall satisfaction by users in 2007, while Motorola was ranked as the 'most improved' brand on satisfaction for the last three years. However, the overall satisfaction among mobile handset users declined, according to International Data Corporation's �India Mobile Handset Usage and Satisfaction Study 2007�.
Motorola was in the second slot in overall satisfaction, displacing Nokia to the third place, while barring the top three vendors (Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia) all other brands fared below the industry average.
According to a release issued by IDC, overall level users feel that mobile phones have become easier to use, have better voice clarity and longer battery life and thus the satisfaction on these three parameters have increased in 2007. This is in comparison with the previous two years, 2006 and 2005.
However, internal memory and entertainment features are the two parameters on which satisfaction has come down significantly.
"The mobile handsets with higher memory and good entertainment features are still priced quite high. The entry-level phones are relatively poor on these parametres contributing to decline in satisfaction scores,� IDC India Country Manager Kapil Dev Singh said.
Since higher memory and good entertainment features are the key drivers for upgrading to a new handset, the handset makers need to review the premium charged for the higher end mobiles, he added.
The study pointed out that integrated digital camera, music player and stereo FM radio are the three main features that drive users to upgrade their handsets. These features are available in mid-range and high-end handsets so far, but the common user now demands these features in the more affordable handsets.
Multimedia Messaging Service or MMS has failed to catch the fancy of the masses due to high cost of transmission over the networks and relatively cheaper alternate modes of downloading videos available through the internet. Speakerphone feature too has emerged as a driver for upgrading the current handset and can be the most 'cost effective differentiator' for low-end handsets.
"Indian mobile user is willing to spend Rs 6,900 on an average for the next handset. This price has declined in the past three years since the study was first conducted. The average price paid for the current handset by and Indian mobile user is Rs 3,700. The 'incremental spend' for the next hand has grown to Rs 3,200 indicating that the experienced users are willing to spend higher amount for purchase of their next handset," said IDC India Senior Manager Consumer Research Shailendra Gupta said.
IDC's India Mobile Handset Usage and Satisfaction Study 2007 was conducted on a sample of 4,760 mobile (GSM and CDMA) handset users in 18 cities including the four metros (Delhi, Mumbai Chennai and Kolkata).
The IDC India study indicates that a mobile handset is used for 56 minutes a day on an average for voice communication (both incoming and outgoing calls) showing an improvement of 5 minutes over 51 minutes per day a year ago.
On SMS, the second most commonly used service, usage has continued to increase in last three years. An average SMS user sends 8 messages in day, while the number of messages received is 10 per day. This is due to a number of messages from mobile service providers giving information about various downloads like ring tones, bill related information and promotional offers and contests.
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