FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Palo Alto, CA (PRWEB) February 20, 2008
-- Mobile industry executives at last week's
Mobile World Congress agreed that the key to
expanding mobile adoption will be to offer
lower-cost handsets to low-income buyers in
emerging markets. However, a recent report
by Vital Wave Consulting -- Strategies to
Accelerate Handset Financing -- points out
that corporations can address affordability
and maintain margins by ensuring access to
financing for handsets.
The key to accelerating sales to near-term
handset buyers is tapping into existing
financing mechanisms, according to Karen
Coppock, vice president of consulting services
at Vital Wave. "Low cost is very different than
affordable," says Coppock. "Consumers who may
not be able to afford even low-cost phones can
purchase handsets when financing options are
available. In addition, appropriate financing
mechanisms may speed the adoption of more
expensive, feature-rich handsets in developing
countries."
Vital Wave Consulting, a global market
research and consulting firm with an emphasis in
emerging markets and information and
communication technology, says the near-term
growth market for handset purchases is found in
the 1.5 million individuals living on more than
$1 per day but do not yet have a cell phone.
These potential buyers are extremely
price-sensitive and geographically dispersed,
but research shows they are willing and able to
purchase a mobile phone, spending a large
percentage of their income, if the right
business models are in place to accommodate
their cash flow limitations.
"Many formal and informal financing programs
already exist in developing countries," says
Coppock, "but access by low-income individuals
for the purchase of a mobile phone is extremely
limited. With appropriate marketing and
partnership strategies, handset manufacturers
and mobile operators could facilitate first-time
handset purchases through financing."
Coppock points out that access to financial
services is only part of the solution. The
mobile industry must also make issuing (and
assuming) debt for the purchase of mobile phone
more palatable by stressing the utility and
income-generating capacity of a handset. "Many
of these consumers perceive mobile phones as
luxuries. They would be more willing to get
financing, and lenders more willing to issue
debt for a handset if they understand that the
device will make it feasible to repay the debt."
Vital Wave Consulting's report, Strategies to
Accelerate Handset Financing, provides the size,
location, and characteristics of the near-term
market for mobile handsets, and a comprehensive
review of formal and informal financing
mechanisms in the top ten near-term markets.
Additional information is available on the Vital
Wave Consulting website at
http://www.vitalwaveconsulting.com.
To buy this report go to the
http://www.vitalwaveconsulting.com/publications/publications.htm.
About Vital Wave
Consulting
About Vital
Wave Consulting
Vital Wave Consulting enables accelerated
revenue growth in emerging markets through
strategic consulting, market research and
business intelligence. Clients include
multinational corporations in the
information technology and
telecommunications industries.
Contact
Vital Wave Consulting
+1-650-321-3313
info@vitalwaveconsulting.com |
