A big (330–page) U.K. government report on the state of wired and wireless communications contains a wealth of information on a wide range of technologies and applications, including a bit of good news about camera phones.
The Office of Communications’ (Ofcom) “Communications Market Report” (available in three sections plus summaries) says that based on surveys the non-voice feature of cellular phones that consumers are most aware of (not including SMS) is the camera. Sixty five percent of cellular users are aware their phone has a camera and 41 percent have used the camera (see below).
The report notes the percentage of awareness is likely to increase as consumers replace their phones with newer models and as greater percentages of phones include cameras. Currently, 84 percent of handsets sold in the U.K. incorporate a camera.
Why are cameras No. 1?
Why are cellular subscribers most aware of the camera even though other features (such as games) were introduced earlier? Ofcom speculates, “It is interesting to note that the awareness of the camera feature is highest, followed by games and alarms, which have been available for longer as mobile phone functions.
“This may be because the camera is a physical part of the handset, which is more difficult to overlook than a menu item or because there has been more publicity about camera function than other features.”
The report notes the majority of consumers who were surveyed said the features on their phones didn’t affect their use of dedicated devices. However, Ofcom reports that a “significant minority” say their use of dedicated devices has decreased because of features on handsets.
Indeed, 38 percent of consumers surveyed say their use of regular cameras has decreased because of the cameras on the phones (see below) — as well as decreases in the use of other standalone devices because of cellular features. Moreover this could be just the beginning of less use of dedicated devices.
Ofcom says, “As the level of sophistication of these features on mobile phones has only recently approached that of basic level specialist devices. the impact has probably not yet been felt in the replacement lifecycle of the separate device.”
Not all good news for new features
Ofcome has bad news, however, for proponents of mobile television (as I am). Mobile televison didn’t fare as well — to say the least — as camera phone awareness and use. Check out the article I’ll posted later tonight on my “Reiter’s Mobile TV Report.”
Don't forget — if you’re at all interested in the U.K. telecommunications environment — Internet, WiFi, cellular, broadcast/cable television, etc. — be sure to check out the entire Ofcom report. MocoNews.net has a brief summary of the report and BBC News has a detailed article about the report’s findings plus two video reports.
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