Smartphones take lead in European mobile phone market. The era of the simple "feature phone" that cannot connect to the internet is over in western Europe.
Smartphone shipments exceeded those of "feature phones" for the first time in the region over the most recent three months and accounted for 52% of the 42m units sold. New data released by research company IDC show smartphone shipments up 48% compared to the same period in 2010, reaching nearly 22m, as Samsung, Apple, HTC and BlackBerry maker RIM dominated the market and Finland's Nokia saw its previous dominance wiped out. Last year smartphones made up just over a third of mobile phone sales in the region. The shift to smartphones came as a new report indicated that Android smartphone users will download more apps than Apple iPhone owners this year, as sales of devices using the Google operating system surge ahead.
Mobile phones shifting from fun to fundamental. Anyone who’s taken Psych 101 should remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a chart that organizes people’s needs, from basic physiological to safety and ultimately self.
So what’s that have to do with mobile technology? It’s a helpful guide in showing where consumers are currently spending their money in mobile and where it’s headed in the future, said analyst Chetan Sharma, in a new white paper (pdf) called How mobile will change the way we spend. 10 Major Mobile Learning Trends to Watch For.