PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, December 18, 2006 – According to The NPD Group, a leading consumer and retail information company, the U.S. smartphone market has entered a significant growth spurt. October 2006 sales soared 230 percent from January of this year, rising from 216,000 units to nearly 715,000. On a quarterly basis in 2006, smartphone sales have risen more than four percentage points to more than 6 percent of new phones sold through October in the fourth quarter of 2006.
“The long-awaited growth in smartphone sales comes at a crucial time for carriers who have been anticipating wider adoption of smartphones,” said Neil Strother, research director for wireless devices at The NPD Group. “For the past couple of years, carriers and their handset suppliers have been hoping more buyers would migrate to these devices, since smartphone owners tend to spend much more on wireless data than those who don’t own them.”
Here’s the breakdown of the top sellers from August through October:
The current top five best-selling smartphones reflect a shifting market that’s no longer limited to Treos and BlackBerries. Motorola’s Q has come on strong, and actually led sales between August and October 2006. The key reasons behind the overall growth in smartphone sales included the following:
“All of this is welcome news to carriers, and not just because devices are moving in record volume,” Strother said. “The simple fact is that smartphone owners spend more on data and are therefore more attractive customers.”
Smartphone users spent an average of $6.31 per month for wireless data in the third quarter. By comparison, owners of all types of mobile phones spent just $0.89. “It’s no wonder carriers covet smartphone owners so much,” Strother said.
Methodology: The NPD Group’s Mobile Phone Track information service compiles and analyzes mobile device sales data based on more than 150,000 completed online consumer research surveys each month. Surveys are based on a nationally-balanced and demographically-representative sample, and results are projected to represent the entire population of U.S. consumers. For more information about NPD’s offerings in this business sector, visit http://wireless.npd.com.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, visit www.npd.com.