PRESS COVERAGE

Taken from the full article written by Brad Rees in Mobile magazine

Published: December 12 2007 

They say retail is detail and it's never resonated more powerfully than in the current mobile supply chain.

Let me start off with a few statistics. By the end of the second quarter of this year, there was a 9% rise in the production and distribution of mobile phones compared with the previous year. A little over 15% of UK operator devices launched this year will be hugely capable smartphones. Nearly half of these intelligent devices are now doing healthy high street numbers.

One more fact: there is an estimated 112.5% mobile phone penetration to the installed customer base. This means more than 10% of consumers out there actively use more than one mobile phone.

So with operators' contract terms now stretching anywhere between 15 and 18 months, it begs the question: how many shoppers will be in the market for a new contract phone this Christmas?

Us Brits got our heads around mobile phones early on. We know more about how to customise and adorn our phones today than ever before; the average Argos shopper can buy a ringtone, set a wallpaper, even send and receive pictures on an entry-level pink clamshell. Because entry level doesn't mean 'no camera and

£49.99' any more - entry-level handsets are robust, longer-lasting devices. Just look at the fleet of low-tier Samsungs out there. All this points to an opportunity for retailers who want to get serious about selling mobile media, in store.

Click here for the full article at Mobile magazine