Tracking the wearables market and the upswing in consumer interest

The latest consumer survey by GSMA Intelligence reveals that around one in seven mobile users changed their service provider over the previous 12 months. The main reasons for churn have stayed largely unchanged over the last five years, at the aggregate level, with value for money by far the top reason. However, variations exist between consumer segments in terms of the degree of churn and the drivers.

This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on consumer devices, highlighting how the market has changed in the last six months and its implications. The report considers four major developments: innovation expanding beyond smartphones to wearables and the smart home; smart glasses seeing a revival; chipmakers intensifying efforts with generative AI; and direct-to-device strategies increasingly becoming a regional play.

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.