According to WDSGlobal, Smartphones represent a third of all handsets sold, and are expected to overtake featurephones by the end of 2011. However, they also say that a surprising amount of users are unable to set-up the data services. WDSGlobal has apparently carried out research in this area:
- Almost a third experienced set-up problems with email – the most problematic data service
- 21% experienced problems setting up the internet on their device
- And 18% had problems with MMS
It was also found that people do have problems, they go to surprisingly little effort to get things working. The research found that:
- Firstly people read the handset manual (48%)
- Then ask their family and friends (20%)
- Almost 10% of consumers just gave up
- Younger people are four times more likely to search online than older consumers, 56% of which head straight for the manual
Certainly then, some consumers aren’t getting the best from their smartphones, and ideally need to look at the different support options – WDS’ assertion is that for operators therefore, there is revenue being lost from people not using these data services. Of course, you might be wondering who WDSGlobal are, and it just so happens they are an outsource customer service outfit, whos specialize in managing these sorts of issues for companies in the Mobile space.
At any rate, I’m not surprised people have issues setting up email, it can be tough if you’re not familiar with it – at least these guys are giving one more option to get people up and running with their devices.
You can read more about WDSGlobal here.