(16 October 2007 5:34 pm)

MUMBAI: The overall satisfaction score of mobile handset users has declined for the first time in three years, according to IDC's India Mobile Handset Usage and Satisfaction Study 2007.

The study points out that even the brand with the maximum proportion of 'satisfied' users, Sony–Ericsson, has seen a drop. Motorola emerged No. 2 on overall satisfaction score, displacing Nokia to the third place.

Motorola was rated as the 'most improved' brand, with significant increase in satisfaction scores for the brand.

Barring the top three vendors (Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia) all other brands fared below the industry average. At an 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 has increased as compared to the 2006 and 2005 scores. 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 parameters contributing to decline in satisfaction scores", said IDC India country manager Kapil Dev Singh.

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.

Entertainment Features drive mobile handset upgrades

The IDC India study pointed out that integrated digital camera, music player and stereo FM radio are the three main features, that typically 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.

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.

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, Kolkata).

The study further 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.

SMS 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.

"The overall increased usage of SMS can be attributed to reasonable tariff charges and widespread usage of SMS by TV shows, public opinion polls, which has been continuously increasing year-on-year," Gupta added.

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/contests. Also contributing to the incoming SMS are those received from public utilities such as banks, railways, airlines.