Remember when Steve Jobs had a dig at Apple’s mobile competition and proclaimed that ” nobody ” would buy their Hummer -like 4-inch-plus smartphones? Well, going by the most recent NPD data, that group of “no ones” among US smartphone consumers is now a meaty 24 percent. Separating handsets into screen categories of three.4 inches and below, 3.5 to three.9 inches, and people above 4 inches, the stat mavens discovered that the midrange is holding steady, but smaller-screened devices are beginning to lose out to their jumbo-sized brethren. No prizes for guessing that Android-powered devices were behind that gigantic sales increase, with the HTC EVO 4G and Motorola Droid X leading the style, followed by Samsung’s multivariate Galaxy S range. Now, care to inform us more about our mobile future, Steve?
[Thanks, Skylar]
Disclaimer: NPD’s Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.
The NPD Group: Larger Smartphone Screens Gain in PopularityDriven largely by sales of high-end Android phones, mobile handsets with screens which are 4 inches or larger now comprise nearly one quarter of all smartphone sales.
PORT WASHINGTON, LONG ISLAND, March 21, 2011 – In keeping with The NPD Group, a number one market research company, U.S. consumers are willing to renounce room of their pockets and purses to achieve a richer media experience on their mobile devices. The U.S. market share for iPhones and other smartphones with screen sizes between 3.5 inches and three.9 inches have remained steady, but smartphones with the biggest screens (4 inches or larger) have grabbed market share from devices with screen sizes which are under 3.5 inches.
According to the newest information from NPD’s Cell phone Track, smartphones with 4-inch-or-larger screens, like Samsung’s Galaxy S, HTC’s EVO 4G and Motorola’s Droid X, which debuted inside the second quarter (Q2) of 2010, quickly grew to encompass 24 percent of the market by Q4 2010. The market share for iPhones and other smartphones with screen sizes between 3.5 inches and three.9 inches increased 2 percent over the prior year’s Q4; while the market share of smartphones with screens smaller than 3.4 inches, declined from 63 percent in Q4 2009 to only 36 percent of the smartphone market in Q4 2010.
The five best-selling handset models in 2010 that had screen sizes of four inches or larger were as follows:
1 HTC EVO 4G
2 Motorola Droid X
3 Samsung Fascinate
4 Samsung Captivate
5 Samsung Vibrant“The explosion in Web and video content available for smartphones has caused consumers to rethink their phones’ sizes,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD. “Larger displays offer a richer media experience, in addition to a roomier surface for on-screen keyboards. Handset vendors are continuing to push the envelope of pocket real estate to enrich the video capabilities of 4G handsets.”
While men still make up the biggest share of customers purchasing smartphones with the biggest screen sizes, women are increasingly prone to buy them. In Q2 2010 just 30 percent of enormous-screen smartphone purchasers were women, but by Q4 2010 women represented 40 percent of huge-screen smartphone sales.
Data Note: The data during this press release is from Cellular phone Track – NPD’s consumer tracking of U.S. consumers, aged 18 and older, who reported purchasing a cellphone. NPD would not track corporate/enterprise cellphone purchases.
LG’s upcoming MWC lineup runs into some Italians, gets documented on video
Everything Everywhere promises ‘small-scale LTE launch’ in UK by the top of 2012
