Disqus
Analysts at Canalys (does that rhyme?) conducted a survey with over 3,000 people spread out over France, Germany and the United Kingdom to find out how large of an impact touch screen devices are having on Western Europe. The results speak for themselves: 38% want their next mobile phone to be finger touch enabled and 16% want their next device to be stylus enabled. That’s 54% of people who have simply had it with a regular T9 keypad and 5 way directional pad.
What about the people who are taking this survey and already have touch screen devices? Of those individuals (percentage not given) only 47% wanted their next mobile device to be touch enabled, which leads me to believe that buying into the touch screen hype and building a terrible user interface is almost as toxic as not making a touch screen model at all. Those with Apple and HTC devices are the most likely to buy another touch device, while those with Sony Ericsson touch devices are the least likely to buy a touch screen again. The people most eager to buy a touch screen device? Men between the ages of 22 and 45. The people who least want a finger based touch enabled device? People who currently use stylus based devices.
Which side of the argument do you sit on? I’m still pounding away on buttons with my Nokia E71.
About The Author
Stefan Constantinescu
Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.
