CXOs Deem Reliability and Ease-of-Use Most Important Features of Mobile Communication Tools, According to Survey by Frost & Sullivan

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, announces the results of an end-user study, 2010 U.S. CXOs' Choice: Mobile Computing Products and Services. The survey evaluates preferences of various mobile communication and computing products/services among C-level executives (CIOs, CEOs, Presidents, Directors, and Mid-Level Managers, among others) across various industry verticals throughout the United States. More specifically, the survey presents questions on the certain types of products and services used, such as laptops, smartphones, standard feature phones, Web-based collaboration tools, location-based services, and mobile multimedia applications.

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Among the various mobile communication and computing products/services surveyed in this research, all U.S. CXOs use or own laptops/notebooks. Of all core functions surveyed, reliability is most important, while features not related to the core function of laptop/notebooks are deemed less important. It appears that CXOs expect the products they use to perform as expected, and are less interested in frills.

According to the survey, more CXOs perceive smartphones to be primarily business phones, while standard feature phones are considered more as personal-use phones. For both smartphones and standard feature phones, ease-of-use is one of the most important features according to CXOs. Features such as design, multimedia capabilities, and digital cameras are less important in smartphones.

"The growth of smartphones, as a percentage of total mobile phone sales, has been quite dramatic in North America and the trend will only continue in the coming years," comments Brent Iadarola, Global Research Director of the Mobile and Wireless Communications Practice at Frost & Sullivan. "Interestingly, BlackBerry was the top-owned smartphone among U.S. CXOs; however, Apple's iPhone had the strongest brand loyalty."  

Overall, nearly eight out of ten CXOs use Web-based collaboration tools. Among these users, ease of use and desktop sharing are the most important features sought. Interestingly, having a powerful feature set is one of the least important attributes to CXOs.

"As expected, tools that allow C-level executives to be more mobile are popularly used. Thus, laptop/notebook computers and mobile phones – especially smartphones – are used by nearly all. But other tools that enhance the mobile experience (i.e., such as Web-based collaboration tools) are likely to see increased levels of adoption sooner rather than later," explains Tonya Fowler, Global Director with Frost & Sullivan's Customer Research Team, which oversaw the implementation of the study.

As a final point, only a small percentage of CXOs report they currently use mobile multimedia applications or location-based services. Yet, it is expected that these two mobile communication tools will likely see increased use in the near future.

This survey was conducted by Frost & Sullivan's Customer Research Team, working in conjunction with Frost & Sullivan's Information and Communication Technologies Practice. Specifically, the Customer Research Team conducts independent, unbiased research among end users to evaluate and measure companies and trends in the market.

For more information about the study, please send an e-mail to Jake Wengroff, Corporate Communications, at [email protected], with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company web site, city, state and country.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies.  Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan