New mobile research snapshot examines coming shift to 5G network infrastructure

Parks Associates today released Market Snapshot: Smartphones and Mobile Services, which shows nearly 50% of smartphone owners in U.S. broadband households stream video on their phone, creating more demand for high-speed mobile connections as the mobile service industry is preparing to shift to 5G network infrastructure.

“Video streaming is increasingly common among mobile consumers,” said Kristen Hanich, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “Social media is still the most popular activity, with nearly 60% of smartphone owners using their mobile phone for social media access, followed by playing games and streaming music. These activities add up to higher mobile data needs among consumers.”

Market Snapshot: Smartphones and Mobile Servicesexamines how the mobile market will become even more competitive in the next five years. Mobile service providers are incentivized to sign new consumers, as Parks Associates research shows that U.S. broadband households with mobile services paid much more per month in 2017 when compared to 2015.

“The resurgence of unlimited data plans has been successful in getting consumers to upgrade their service,” Hanich said. “Mobile service providers differentiate their unlimited data plans by their data speeds, quality of streaming, and value-added services, arranging them in packages that are attractive to consumers. As the race to 5G heats up, network capabilities will also become increasingly important in the battle for consumers.”

Operators are aggressively poaching customers from their competitors but are gradually exhausting their “levers” to convince customers to switch. Parks Associates expects a shift in strategy from spending on user acquisition to focusing on retention.

Additional research from the Market Snapshot includes:

• Out of the 25% of smartphone purchases taking place online, only 7% are attributed to majority online channels (i.e., Amazon).
• About one-fourth of U.S. broadband households with mobile service now consume more than 10GB of mobile data per month.
• More than 45% of heads of U.S. broadband households use personal assistant applications.
   

To download this Market Snapshot, visit http://www.parksassociates.com/whitepapers/mobile-snapshot2018. To schedule an interview or to request data, contact Julia Homier at [email protected], 972.996.0214.

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com
 

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