Top executives at Symbian, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson have called on mobile phone operators to lower the cost of mobile Internet services, as new research shows that the sales growth of high-end mobile phones is slowing.

Make mobile Internet cheaper; sell more handsets

According to a market research report by consulting firm canalys, worldwide year-on-year market growth for smart mobile phones fell 30% in the fourth quarter of 2006, compared to the 50% seen in the third quarter.

Speaking at the 3GSM, touted as the world’s leading mobile communications conference and exhibition, a number of senior mobile communications executives took the opportunity to give their opinion about what was holding back sales growth of higher end, and higher margin, mobile phones.

The president of Sony Ericsson, Miles Flint, told Reuters, that mobile Internet tariff plans needed to be more affordable and easier to understand, adding that this will be particularly important in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Other factors Flint identified would contribute to the growth of the “next phase” of mobile communications included ”great devices, 3G, (and) the pull of service and brands.” 

Kai Oistamo, head of Nokia’s mobile phone division, echoed Flint’s analysis when he told Reuters that the cost of data was the biggest problem at the moment. “That really needs to be solved,” he said.

The theme of the need for cheaper mobile Internet was also echoed by Nigel Clifford, the chief executive of Symbian, who said that something will “need to happen in Europe and North America” where subscriber growth is become flat.

“The tariffing, that’s something operators may want to look at,” Clifford told Reuters.

Symbian had 67% of the operating system market for smart phones, compared to Microsoft’s 14%, RIM’s 7%, Linux’s 6%, and Garnet OS with 5%, according to the canalys report.

Mobile phone operators around the world have invested significant sums into infrastructure that can deliver mobile Internet. No doubt they are hoping to extract premium fees from innovators and early adopters for this service.

However, innovators and early adopters are only a very small part of the market (around 16%), and it seems that mobile phone operator’s current pricing strategies are holding back the masses – if the mobile communications executives are to be believed.

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Entry was posted on Monday, February 12th, 2007 at 11:39 am under Cell phones, Intel, Technology.

Read more entries by John Pospisil.
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