Compared to Europe and Asia, American
smartphone adoption is still very low.
But it’s growing.
In fact, smartphone unit sales almost tripled from 2004 to 2005, and
increased by 50 percent in the first half of 2006 over 2005, according to an
In-Stat research report.
Numbers like this keep everyone from Google and its search rivals to MapQuest developing applications for
smartphones.
But if the In-Stat report is any indication, all that preparation may
not pay off just yet.
While adoption has increased, many smartphone users
continue to carry the very devices that smartphones are meant to
replace.
That’s because business users who received their smartphones
through work are three times more likely than other users to carry a second wireless phone for personal calls.
Users have also been slow to add new applications to their devices. In-Stat said most users have only downloaded a few applications.
While many smartphones sold in 2006 serve as a combination phone and
PDA and others have power and performance comparable to
many laptops, most of the smartphones sold globally only
enable the user to access the capabilities of basic wireless phones.
In-Stat reports that U.S. smartphone customers are about evenly split
among Windows Mobile, BlackBerry OS and Palm OS.