Mobile phones are the gadgets most likely to be traded in, with 63% of respondents claiming they frequently upgrade them, according to results from a study by market research firm, GMI.
In a survey of 20,000 consumers in 20 countries, GIM found that the vast majority of people upgraded their phones on a regular basis.
The company cited evolving technology as one of the key factors for this fast turn around, but also earmarked the nature of mobile phone contracts as playing a role, pointing out that users often opt for new phones when they sign a new contract.
According to Harris Interactive, 35% of US mobile phone users have a one-year contract, and 54% have a two-year, few in the US go without one.
Respondents in the GMI study ranked contracts and costs as the main reason why they would not upgrade handsets, while many consumers said that lack of usage was a deterrent.
A study earlier this month by M:Metrics found that almost 60% of US mobile subscribers used their handsets for non-voice functions, with over 37% of respondents had sent or received a text message within the researched time period (see Multi Use Of Mobile Handsets).
Other findings from the M:Metric report showed that, although about one-third of the surveyed users claimed they had played a game on their mobile phone, just 3.3 % had actually downloaded a game. Men were far more likely than women to have downloaded a game, Seamus McAteer, M:Metrics’ co-founder and chief product architect, put this down to the content of the games on offer, saying: “Too many of the titles available for sale are action/adventure and sport games.”
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