US consumers have a downward trend in changing smartphone rates

Beijing time, July 17, foreign media published in Monday, said that because of the lack of innovation, the U.S. consumers to change the rate of smartphones is a downward trend, which for mobile operators and smartphone manufacturers is a potential danger signal.

The following is an overview of the article:

Now that fewer consumers are choosing to update and upgrade smartphones, this may have a negative impact on the revenue growth of mobile operators and smartphone makers.

According to analysts at UBS AG, the proportion of Americans selling old handsets to buy new models has declined in recent years. That percentage was negative last year, with about 68 million U.S. consumers updating their handsets, down 9% from the previous year.

UBS expects US mobile-phone renewal rates to decline this year. Recently, U.S. mobile operators at&t and t the United States to introduce a more convenient "old for new" program, but only if these consumers are willing to give up the operator to provide general purchase subsidy. The effect of this scheme is still to be seen.

There are two reasons why the rate of mobile phone renewal has declined in the United States. One is that the U.S. smartphone penetration rate reached 70% per cent last year, so the number of consumers remaining is low; second, existing smartphone users don't see the need to update Apple or Samsung's newest models because the two flagship handsets lack enough innovation.

Lack of innovation

Huntsville Conner Green of Alabama Huntsville said he would not replace the Samsung Galaxy S2 currently in use because the machine is still available and the replacement costs are expensive. Moreover, the new models introduced by other smartphone makers are not particularly appealing to him.

Now, says Mr Green, the handset-maker's products lack an immediate, shiny innovation. Generally speaking, the new technology has a 4-5-year period. At present, the breakthrough innovation of smartphone has not appeared, now Apple's iphone is similar to the original version.

That said, the smartphone industry is still making a full pot. Earlier this month, Samsung was expected to increase its profits by 44% per 50% in the quarter ending June 30. Apple's quarterly profit for the year ended March 30, although it fell in comparison with the previous one, still has 9.55 billion dollars to come.

In addition, industry analysts still believe that smartphones outside the United States market is booming. Strategy Analytics, a market research agency, expects smartphones to grow by 48% in emerging markets this year.

But the slowdown in the US has worried many investors. So far, Apple's share price has fallen 19% per cent this year as investors are increasingly worried about slowing iphone growth and the company's lack of innovation. Samsung also fell in share prices. Samsung's share price has also fallen 15% this year as the company's profit prospects are lower than expected and the new flagship mobile Galaxy S4 sales are less than expected.

Love and hate.

American operators also love and hate mobile phone updates. Because the user from the functional mobile phone to use the smartphone, its traffic soared, so the required service fee is also high, this is the operator in recent years, one of the main factors of income growth.

However, when a new mobile phone is replaced by a contract user who already has a smartphone, the operator has to pay a hefty purchase subsidy, with a subsidy of around 400 dollars per handset.

To ensure profits, operators also make some restrictive rules for users to update their phones, such as paying new fees and extending the time spent on contract machines. At&t and T recently offered new measures to allow consumers to change their handsets indefinitely, but only if they had to abandon the purchase subsidy.

Looking for a new engine

Kevin Packingham, chief product officer at Samsung Telecommunications America, said he did not agree with the slow pace of innovation. However, he admits that the rise in smartphones on chips and software is not as obvious as the early big screens, and it is not surprising that consumers feel less about it.

John Legere, t US CEO, John Le Gres that new technologies will emerge and further boost smartphone development. Le Gres said: "There are a large number of wearable computer products will appear, which will have a certain impact on the industry." ”

A range of companies are also betting big on mobile communications. Satellite TV provider Dish receptacle is constantly buying radio spectrum and looking for opportunities to move into the mobile business. SoftBank, the Japanese mobile operator, has spent 21.6 billion of billions of dollars acquiring Sprint Nextel, America's third-largest mobile operator.

The mobile internet still has plenty of room for payment, business and media development, said Ron Fisher, who is about to become the Rohn Fischer of Sprint's board of directors.

However, the industry has yet to find a new engine for growth.

"Everyone has a smartphone now," said John Hodulik, analyst at UBS John Hodurik. ”