Mobile Phones - Touchscreen Culture on the Rise

The rise of the smartphone culture in the mobile phonehandset will dissuade them from purchasing another in
market has brought about a significant demand forthe future. As well as the visual appeal of a mobile,
touchscreen handsets. A recent survey conducted byconsumers still appear to prefer an easy-to-use
Canalys of over 3,000 mobile phone users acrossinterface and this is why the transition has not been a
France, Germany and the United Kingdom revealedcomplete success as yet.
that 38% of consumers now look for finger-basedCanalys Vice President, Mike Welch admits: "We are
touchscreens and a further 17% keen on stylus-basedat a critical time in the mobile industry.
touchscreens."The user awareness and interest is clearly there, and
With well over half of the mobile phone usersthe opportunity to drive a mass change in user
surveyed preferring touchscreen mobile devices itinteraction, and hence device capabilities and the
gives a considerable advantage towards smartphoneopening up of new application and service revenue
manufacturers. It would appear that owners of HTCstreams, is tantalisingly close. But only if users continue
and Apple smartphones are the happiest with theirto embrace these new UIs once they have tried
current handsets. This is partly driven by the marketingthem."
of these particular products, but there is no denyingThere is considerable competition between
that the likes of the iPhone, and HTC Magic and HTCsmartphone manufacturers in the fourth quarter of
Hero have contributed to breaking new ground.2009. The Palm Pre has hit the shelves and has
On the other hand there remains a section of usersalready been dubbed a potential 'iPhone killer'.
who are struggling to adapt to the latest handsetMeanwhile, further HTC mobile handsets are being
enhancements. There is an underlying fear that a poormarketed and heavily advertised in the build-up to
user experience with one particular touchscreenChristmas rush.