The other day, I was looking for a Case Mate cover for my Nokia E72. Case Mate makes pretty good covers in Hard, only back in hard and Silicon.
I went to some very big shops.
Most of them had Case Mate covers. But peculiarly, most of them had those covers for only iPhone and Blackberry.
That just got me thinking. How much of a role these resellers of accessories play in a consumer’s phone purchase?
Of late, we have seen a lot of surge in Android sales thanks to the two mid range Samsung Galaxys (3 & 5).
I am talking about the premium segment. The segment, which goes for top end smartphone. Mind you, I am still talking about premium consumers to whom, a phone, besides being a smart aide, is a status symbol also.
Does this shops, by becoming *only* iPhone and Blackberry shops creating an exclusivity around those smartphones?
They are kind of experience lounge with anything and everything from earphones to Headphones to covers to protective shield to car mounts… Again most of those accessories will work with most of the phones (all good Headphones come with 3.5MM jack!) but why would a consumer with a premium handset bother with compromises?
He/She would want to own something which is accepted in the ecosystem.
Imagine this situation. You buy a top of the range Smartphone which happens to be a non iPhone/Blackberry. You are not a power geek but an aware consumer. You are discussing the features with your colleague who has an iPhone and blowing her skirt off. The communication wavers off to how kids throw phones these days and all. YOU tell her about phone covers. Infact, YOU take her to the shop and there she buys hers. You decide, you will also have one. You are told, they do not sell for non iPhone/Blackberry phones.
It doesn’t make your phone any worse. It doesn’t compromise the quality of your phone in any which way. But it kills a little something in you there and then. It brings that little *want* of an iPhone or a Blackberry inside you.
So when you go out to get your phone upgrade after a few months, chances are you will look for those brands before you look for others!
So the shopkeeper had influenced your phone purchase there and then without uttering a word, without being impolite to your phone or whatever. The so called status through a phone had taken a beating silently.
Disclaimer: YOU in this example is a consumer and not a geek!
Wonderful thinking, Ashutosh. Agree 100%. And I think this logic is best reflected in Apple's accessories which carry a special brand image with themselves, and is the result of nurturing constant innovation, quality and having a closed system. I could feel totally hep wearing a set of Apple earphones, and leave the onlookers wondering about what device the bulge in my pocket is (talking about the electronic device here), most would assume its an Apple too. Extending the logic, the next obvious point of contention is the other type of 'accessories' for your phone, the apps. Having a vibrant appstore and developer/company support should also be critical to defining your experience with the phone. As Symbian veterans, we have oft been forced to resort to arcane searches/multiple blog follows/stop-gap arrangements or pay for software that emulate the 'Official' apps and be up on par with the latest offerings, while even the n00best iPhone/BB user gets the client from their appstore first. Or the endless customizations that we hanker for and are advertised, the "iPhone theme for Symbian (with original icons), "Android homescreen with clock gadget" that is supposed to brighten up our dull phones while most users from the other side would never want anything reflective of this side, save for the reason of explicitly looking quaint/geeky. I guess at the end, it comes to the fact that, in the world of 4 inch screens and 3.5mm audio jacks, how do you differentiate yourselves? I would assume that the NPD's could come to be what the "experience lounges" are for others. However, sadly, they certainly seem like a service center that retails Nokia phones rather than an experience center. P.S: I'd like to meet the "consumer and not a geek" who can discuss features with a female colleague-with-an-iPhone and blow her skirt off
AK, you have point here. I think Nokia is losing this again by not taking competition seriously. but its is matter of fact that Nokia is far bigger player(even in highend) in India compared to Apple, BB or Samsung. Somehow I feel, Indian malls,shops copy too much from abroad or they just dont have much accessories to show for Nokias. just head over to nokia.co.in and you can see so many accessories, but how many you can actually see in shops? almost nil. Nokia wake up ! P.S. BTW for me , phone purchase wont be influenced by accessories :) I like to get everything in the box.
Absolutely agreed. Who wants to buy a device that cannot be easily accessorized? (Though my green N8 is too cool looking to ever be covered up.) That said, the onus is often on the manufacturer to provide some level of incentive for the retailer to stock those items, either through direct or partnered discounts or via some level of POP (point of purchase) displays. My experience suggests Nokia is not very good at either. I'd bet there are still some Dixon's within the confines of Heathrow Airport that have original N95s and N73s on display - most of which are broken, by the way. Which is another point, that even with all the bells and whistles to show, the team working within the retailer need to have some level of incentive to maintain those displays, maintain the devices in working order and actively sell those to consumers. Sounds like none of that is happening in this instance, so it makes me wonder what the Nokia local market teams are up to.
And I suppose you prove the reverse hypothesis is also true, because there are unique accessories and special treatment, the consumer wants the highend smartphone to earn them. Nice continuation to your previous article about consumer insights, Ashutosh.
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