US Lags in Cell Phone Feature Usage

The US develops some of the world's most cutting edge phones, yet falls behind in cell usage.

Although the US seems to be at the forefront of technology innovation and adoption, a recent study showed it is still far behind other countries in terms of how cell phones are utilized by its citizens. With areas like Silicon Valley being cell phone technology powerhouses, it is surprising to hear the country is far behind in terms of how cell phones are integrated into our lives.

A survey was conducted with 4100 cell users in 16 countries including the United States, Germany, China as well as developing countries. The goal was to shed light on how cell phone users differed in their usage of their phones.

Much of the results were surprising in comparison to the massive growth the US cell phone market has seen in the past ten years. The US finished last in usage of simple mobile services like texting and instant messaging with only one in three respondents using either of the services. This is low in relation to China, where nine out of ten use texting. Experts attribute the results to text messaging not being marketed as widely during its market introduction in the US as it is in other countries. Other countries depend on these services due to a lack in infrastructure, thereby creating a need for such services to be mobile. Many of these countries still need features that are readily available in the US.

One feature people in all countries want is more voip service options, with half of respondents asking for it. The demand shows the growing trend of voip in the world economy. In addition, another feature surveyors asked for was mobile banking, which reflects the demand for such services in developing nations.

This survey shows a surprising trend that although the US is busy developing new cell phones chock full of interesting features to make our lives easier, it isn’t adopting them as widely as other countries are. While this can be contributed to an extensive infrastructure in place in the US, it is something that may reflect our cultural tendencies as well. Many may just be using their cell phone for the basics, like making calls.

Zack is a writer based in San Diego, California. He writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as phone systems & residential voip service at Resource Nation.