Insight Highlights – Smartphones: OEM market shares and evolution of consumer behaviour, Q3 2024

Today, smartphones are the leading digital playground. According to our consumer survey, almost 80% of smartphone users consume digital entertainment services, including video, music and games, on a weekly basis. How can smartphone OEMs capitalise on the prime position that their devices have in digital services consumption? In this report we lay out the five key areas here that smartphone OEMs should focus on. These include implementing bundling strategies, leveraging tech and network advances, and identifying the prime consumer segments for digital services.

Extended reality (XR) technology, which comprises augmented reality, mixed reality and virtual reality, has been around for a while, but it still suffers from a low adoption rate. Only 5% of consumers on average own an XR headset, according to the latest GSMA Intelligence consumer survey, conducted across 12 major mobile markets worldwide. In this report, we discuss the five key areas that XR companies need to focus on for developing a successful consumer strategy, which include identifying the prime consumer segments to target and widening consumer access to XR experiences.

The latest GSMA consumer survey asked more than 10,000 consumers about their views on smartphone repairability, reuse and recycling, refurbished smartphones and the importance of sustainability when buying a new mobile phone. The survey findings have important implications for operators, mobile phone OEMs and other mobile ecosystem players in terms of positioning, potential sales benefits and the wider promotion of circularity schemes.