The fight for dominance in the Chinese smartphone market is more intense than ever. Chinese manufactures are selling feature packed phones for cheap prices, and as a result, winning the customers that were once flocking to Samsung.
PC World reported that Xiaomi secured 15.9 percent of the Chinese smartphone market while Huawei had 15.7, leaving Apple in third place from April to Jun, 2015. These market share reports left Samsung out of the top three vendors, despite their launch of the flagship Galaxy S6. As local vendors offer a variety of cheaper options the Chinese smartphone market is broadening as consumers explore their options, but which brands do Chinese consumers actually like?
Though PC World reported that Xiaomi “regained its position as China’s leading smartphone vendor” in terms of market share, looking to delight (as calculated by analysis of consumer reviews from a major Chinese carrier) it is clear that Chinese consumers favor handsets from other brands. Samsung smartphones are consistently delighting consumers, despite the brand’s decline in attention. Huawei and Lenovo follow Samsung as the most well liked brands, leaving Huawei in a most favorable position. Huawei reportedly secured 15.7 percent of the Chinese smartphone market share and is currently receiving some of the most positive feedback from their users.
As local brands expand their offerings of cheaper handsets in the Chinese smartphone market, Samsung is losing attention, but customers continue to be delighted by their high end phones. Huawei is the brand to watch, as they are gaining attention, profits, and delight with increasing popularity of their higher end devices.
Consumer demand in the wearables market continues to fall, but the dynamics of consumer perception are continuously shifting. In terms of mindshare, Fitbit is dominating. After experiencing a drop in attention during November 2014, after the announcement of the Apple Watch, Fitbit has recovered to see a continually growing share of consumer attention. Aside from Fitibt, consumers are showing steady interest in Garmin and Jawbone and Samsung devices.
The top three most popular wearables brands, Fitbit, Garmin, and Samsung, hover below Motorola and LG in terms of delight. The Moto 360 continues to impress consumers, securing Motorola as the most delightful wearables brand of June. LG saw a boost in happy LG Watch Urbane customers to rank second to Motorola in terms of delight. While customers highly praise Garmin’s Forerunner 220 and 310XT as some of their favorite wearable devices, negative feedback for the manufacturer’s other devices drives down the brand’s overall delight. Despite being released for several months now, Apple has yet to really disrupt the market. Since Apple does not allow customers to review their products on their site, consumer feedback for the Apple Watch remains sparse. Most feedback is obtained through second hand sales on Amazon, and while it is not a comprehensive view of the Apple Watch consumer, these users are growing more and more impressed.
US consumers are displaying the most interest in wearable devices, as Amazon and Best Buy saw the highest volume of reviews this month. Best Buy’s high delight score was driven primarily by happy Fitbit and Pebble customers, while Amazon saw lackluster reactions to Fitbit devices and the most positive feedback from Moto 360 consumers. European wearables consumers are also extremely happy with the Moto 360, while negative perception of the Xioami MiBand is driving down the overall delight for Amazon UK.
Wearables consumers are using their devices to help on their journey to a healthier lifestyle, as fitness continues to be top of mind for both smartwatch and fitness band users. While Fitness band discussion is full of praise for tracking steps, runs, bike rides, and weight loss, the looming threat of the sock drawer remains. Some fitness band users express that after a while, they lose interest in their device and simply stop using it as they reach a plateau or lose motivation. While fitness is also a primary interest for smartwatch users, they tend to focus more heavily on using their devices for messaging, notifications, and social media, reporting dissatisfaction with messaging on these tiny screens.
Argus Insights tracks consumer perception across the entire wearables market to gain insight and coach our clients to develop better products and surpass their competition. Schedule a time to talk with us about how we can help your company thrive in the fact of shifting consumer perception.
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Samsung is actively working to maintain an edge against Apple in the smartphone market as overall demand is dropping. It was recently announced that they will push forward the release their next Galaxy Note phone to early August in order to beat the announcement of Apple’s new handsets, which typically occurs in September. The Galaxy Note line currently finds its biggest competition against the similarly large iPhone 6 Plus. The models are neck in neck in terms of consumer attention, but the iPhone 6 Plus is better delighting consumers.
The anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is rumored to have a sleek glass and metal casing, making the design extremely similar to an iPhone, and removing the option to replace the battery and casing. Expediting the release of their next handset in the Note line will successfully win the race to market against Apple, but the subtle changes will not likely incite consumers to buy, as an updated version of ‘the old’ is not new enough to rouse consumers to immediately upgrade.
Demand in the smartphone market is shrinking, and Samsung’s relatively recent launch of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge did little to reverse this trend. Will this strategy of flooding the market with slightly updated new devices incite demand in a saturated market? It’s unlikely, especially considering the minimal impact of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge release. Stay tuned for a complete analysis of Q2 smartphone performance later this week to find out which brands are delighting consumers, and which are gaining mindshare in the midst of falling demand. In the meantime, stay updated with our free weekly newsletters!
As you may already know from our most recent Press Release, consumer demand for connected home devices is falling. Issues with connectivity and difficulties with installation are deterring mainstream adoption, but, in the midst of stagnating demand, Amazon is opening development on their voice technology software, while investing some $100 million in their ‘Alexa Fund’ to develop their, already delightful, voice technology for connected devices.
So far, Amazon’s Alexa Fund has invested in companies developing in various connected device areas, including: smart kitchen apps, DIY home security, garage door monitoring, connected toys, virtual athletic coaching, and connected car. Amazon’s founder and chief executive stated that the goal of this initiative is to “empower people to explore the boundaries of voice technology,” and that he plans to focus the project especially on companies building “products for the home.”
Could developments in voice technology mean the disruption of the smartphone as the connected home controller paradigm? Instead of stumbling through pages of apps on a smartphone find the one that displays a button to switch on the lights, we could politely ask our lights to turn themselves on, making a smart home even simpler to control.
Success with the Alexa Fund could help to improve how users interact with connected devices, but will the promise of more convenient control help reverse the negative demand trend for connected home devices? Amazon is betting on it, while Apple and Google keep their voice technology private despite expressed plans to open development.
Argus Insights will continue to track consumer perception of the Internet of Things, so stay tuned as we watch and report on the developing market. We listen to consumers to discover what is bringing them delight and dissatisfaction to coach our clients on how to sustain market fit in the face of competitive threats and shifting customer preferences. Schedule a free consultation to discover how quickly Argus Insights can deliver actionable insight.
Consumer interest in wearable technology has been falling since a large holiday peak in January, but the introduction of new products continues to engross consumers. This month, consumers were impressed by Thalmic Labs’ Myo Gesture Controlled Armband, and while Best Buy continues to be the best wearables retailer, companies are increasingly shunning the typical retail experience in favor of a more directed relationship with their consumers. Argus Insights keeps track of the market to provide clients with the tools and insights they need to succeed, sign up here to receive this Wearables Demand Snapshot every month.
Consumer demand has been falling across the entire wearables market since a post holiday peak. Fitbit, Jawbone, Samsung, and Garmin continue to see the most of this waning attention, while Microsoft saw its short lived attention fall off in December. Despite the much anticipated release of the Apple Watch in late April, supply problems have prevented Apple from immediately dominating the market.
Fitbit continues to hold the most mindshare in the Wearables market, but their lagging presence outside of fitness bands and the seemingly constant stream of several small brands throughout the market has contained their monopoly of the consumer’s minds. While brands like Misfit, Microsoft, and Pivotal Living saw short lived boosts in attention, Fitbit, Garmin, Samsung, and Jawbone see rather consistent streams of consumer feedback to lead mindshare in the market.
The most popular wearables brands tended to see lower delight, while more niche brands are satisfying the few customers who provide them with feedback. Thalmic Labs impressed their users with the Myo Gesture Control Armband. Their product is only available to buy through their site or Amazon, and this exclusivity has created a directed relationship with consumers by shunning the traditional retail experience. Aside from the Myo Band, the other most delightful brands produced happy consumers with smartwatches, as the Asus Zen Watch, Martian Notifier, and Moto 360 all saw increasingly positive feedback. Microsoft was a top delighter last month, but their feedback remained rather consistent as other brands saw improvement to fly past their stagnant delight score.
Amazon and Best Buy continue to be the most popular wearables retailers, as consumer shun the purchase process through carriers like ATT and Verizon. Though the feedback comes in low volumes, the few French consumers who reviewed their wearables through Cdiscount and Pixmania reported the highest satisfaction, followed by Argos consumers from the UK. Worsening perception of the Moto 360 greatly affected the delight of Indian consumers who reported decreased delight while at the same time demonstrating more interest. Overall, Best Buy maintains their position as the best wearables retailer, but other stores are better delighting consumers in lower volumes.
Looking to the most discussed usage scenarios of Fitness Bands and Smartwatches, it is clear that wearables consumers remain highly concerned with battery life and the quality of the tiny little wrist worn screens. Applications are top of mind for fitness band users, who are primarily concerned with tracking their steps and calories. There is a clear difference in Smartwatch usage, as these users are most interested in, and fairly frustrated with, texting and alerting. Fitness Band and Smartwatch consumers do however agree on their love for accurate heartbeat monitors and mutual infatuation with apps, but manufacturers of all wearables should work to improve alerting functionality and battery life.
Social media conversation demonstrates a persistent interest in Smartwatch news. People love to talk about the next new device, whether it be a WiFi enabled storage watch kick-starter, or a mood displaying social promoter, they are excited about the new possibilities. Aside from talk of the latest Smartwatch features, the potential of wearables in the medical space is also capturing attention.
Consumer interest in the wearables market has been steadily dropping off, but the big dogs like Fitbit, Garmin, Samsung, and Jawbone still see a majority of the shrinking mindshare, while less popular brands are driving delight.
Argus Insights tracks consumer perception across the entire wearables market to gain insight and coach our clients to develop better products and surpass their competition. Let us know how we can help your company.