“With the iPhone launch in 2007, we saw the wireless industry make an initial move away from its legacy of carrier controlled devices and services, ” said Adam Guy, Compete ’s general manager of telecommunications and media. “With carriers beginning to embrace open access, they will be able to focus on marketing their products and services to the masses while outsourcing niche device and content development to third parties. ”

Compete ’s data is drawn from the browsing and shopping behavior of a panel of millions of consumers. This research also analyzes responses from a targeted survey of recent online shoppers of mobile phones and portable consumer electronics (CE) devices. Key findings from the shoppers include:

• Mass market wireless shoppers don ’t want more devices, services or applications. 59 percent of respondents feel their wireless carrier has sufficient selection.
• Wireless shoppers are not aware of available services. Of the consumers that want more features and services, the majority requested applications such as GPS and Internet connectivity, which are already available.
• Consumers are unaware of open access options. The majority of respondents rank device price (75 percent) and customer service (69 percent) above flexibility when asked about the most important mobile phone features.
• Wireless shoppers can ’t find what they want. In the past two years, 32 percent of respondents reported increasing difficulty finding the right mobile phone.
• CE device shoppers are ready for connectivity. More than 50 percent of laptop and GPS shoppers are very interested in devices that enable wide area connectivity.