Nov 10, 2008 09:15 ET
The NPD Group: iPhone 3G Leads U.S. Consumer Mobile Phone Purchases in the Third Quarter of 2008
Overall consumer mobile phone purchases declined 15 percent
year-over-year
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. --(Business Wire)-- Nov 10, 2008
According to The NPD Group, the leader in market
research for the wireless industry, Apple’s
iPhone 3G surpassed the top-ranked Motorola RAZR as the leading handset
purchased by adult consumers* in the U.S. in
the third quarter (Q3) of 2008. RAZR had been ranked by NPD as the
top-selling consumer handset for the past 12 quarters.
Even with stronger consumer sales of iPhone, and the mobile phone market’s
normal seasonal uplift after Q2, domestic handset purchases by adult
consumers declined 15 percent year over year in Q3 to 32 million units.
Consumer handset sales revenue fell 10 percent to $2.9 billion, even as
the average selling price (ASP) rose 6 percent to $88.
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Top-selling handsets and mobile phone brands
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“The displacement of the RAZR by the iPhone 3G
represents a watershed shift in handset design from fashion to
fashionable functionality,” said Ross Rubin,
director of industry analysis for NPD. “Four
of the five best-selling handsets in the third quarter were optimized
for messaging and other advanced Internet features.”
The top handset models in rank order, based on unit sales in Q3, were as
follows:
1. Apple iPhone 3G
2. Motorola RAZR V3 (all models)
3. RIM Blackberry Curve (all models)
4. LG Rumor
5. LG enV2
When it comes to the specific features that motivated U.S. consumers to
purchase, 43 percent of handset buyers cited the need for a camera and
36 percent noted the ability to send and receive text messages. Mobile
phones with a QWERTY keyboard experienced the greatest year-over-year
rise in sales; 30 percent of handsets were sold with this feature in Q3
2008, versus just 11 percent the year prior. Also this quarter 83
percent of phones purchased were Bluetooth enabled (versus 72 percent
last year), and nearly seven in 10 (68 percent) of phones purchased in
Q3 were music enabled (versus 49 percent last year).
“A growing data divide continues in cellular
handsets,” Rubin said. “Those
who see the value in wireless Internet access are justifying the
investment, whereas voice-centric users have little incentive to
upgrade, which is obviously detrimental to operators who seek to sell
data plans and media access services to their subscribers.”
Methodology: NPD compiles and analyzes mobile device sales data based
on more than 150,000 completed online consumer research surveys each
month. Surveys are based on a nationally balanced and demographically
representative sample of U.S. adults. Results are projected to represent
the entire population of U.S. consumers age 18 and older.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive
consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today,
more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on
NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global,
national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new
business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales,
merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the
following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology,
consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage,
foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and
wireless. For more information, visit http://www.npd.com/.
* NPD does not currently track
corporate/enterprise handset purchases.
The NPD Group
Lee Graham, 212-333-4983
lee@leegraham.biz