Oracle Communications last week released the second installment of its survey into the mobile phone use habits of 3,000 mobile consumers worldwide and their expectations for service providers.
One of the take-aways for mobile service providers: 86 percent of North American respondents said they purchased their phone at a retail store, while only 14 percent purchased their phone online.
That's somewhat surprising given the popular perception that many more people are buying online, but it's a reminder that operators need to double down on their bricks-and-mortar channels to make sure they're delivering what customers want, says Dan Ford, vice president, product marketing, at Oracle.
Some other take-aways: More people are willing to share their location on the phone and use their phones for banking, but only about a third of them believe the information stored on their phones is secure. That implies that all the industry participants who hope to make money from the wave of mCommerce need to work hard to ensure they are not only protecting information on the phone but also do a better job of communicating what they are doing, he says.
Oracle last week also announced its placement in the leaders category for operations support systems (OSS) in Gartner's Magic Quadrant. Also in that category are IBM, NetCracker Technology, Amdocs and HP. A report on the BSS market is expected relatively soon.
"Opportunity Calling: The Future of Mobile Communications – Take Two" is a follow-up to Oracle's earlier study released in September 2010. The survey included mobile phone users in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.
Here are some other bullet points from the study:
• Only 12 percent of North American respondents say they would be "very comfortable" making a purchase with their mobile phone instead of using cash or a credit card compared with 21 percent of respondents worldwide who would be "very comfortable" making a purchase with their mobile.
• In 2010, 17 percent of North American respondents said they would be interested in receiving relevant content on their mobile phone based on their location. Today, 52 percent of North American respondents who have downloaded a mobile app say they have elected to share their location with an app.
• 16 percent of North American respondents say their mobile phone has replaced or almost replaced their GPS device compared with 24 percent for respondents globally.