October 11, 2004
US Mobile Industry Pitches Older Customers
Having equipped most adults and half of all teenagers with cellphones, the US mobile phone industry is turning its attention to the last untapped demographic - people over 65, reports The New York Times
"Senior citizens are an alluring lot for the mobile phone industry, which has virtually tapped out the rest of the adult market.
While about 80 percent of people 19 to 65 own mobile phones and more than 45 percent of those 10 to 18 do, only 39 percent of people 65 and older use them, according to the Yankee Group, a research firm.
Moreover, older people who do use phones spend less money for fewer minutes each month than Americans under 65, the firm says.
But first marketers must overcome the concerns elder users, who say the phones are too small, too hard to hear and cost too much.
To create more converts, analysts said, the big phone makers are developing phones that will be easier to see and hear - and that will reverse the trend toward miniaturization.
If so, they would be mimicking efforts in Korea and Japan, where the higher penetration among older people has led to development of more elderly-friendly gadgets".
Related articles on cell phones for the elderly:
-- Japan's mobile operators target elderly - Now that mobile phone penetration in Japan has hit nearly 70 per cent, the Japanese industry is targeting what could be its last remaining frontier - “technologically-challenged” consumers, including the elderly, who have so far been wary of owning a mobile phone.
-- Mobi-Click - Swiss mobile operator Orange launched a cell phone for the elderly, with just three colored buttons, called Mobi-Click. It will be sold in Orange stores across the country as well as at The Post Office,
-- Phones For Young and Old in South Korea - Korean Carriers have started to sell phones designed for the most overlooked demographics: the very young and the very old.
-- «The Elderphone» - Click Senior-Tel is a full-blown GSM phone for the elderly and confused - with just three buttons.
-- Start-up launches easy-to-use mobile phone - Mobi-Click is generating excitement with its new range of phones that work using just three button.
-- Seniors to be offered S`911-only' cell phones - Cell phones that dial only 911 will be given free to seniors in unincorporated Palm Beach County.
-- Finding the Right Handset For Older Cellphone Users - Currently, seniors make up about 15% of overall cellphone users".
-- Simplified Phones for the Elderly - Mobile telematics company Benefon launches a new cell phone called «Benefon Seraph», it's meant to be a "guardian angel" phone. Ultra simplified with only 3 buttons, it allows for direct dialing to predefined numbers.
-- Verilocation - A mobile phone tracker, Verilocation pinpoints a cell user's wherabouts. It is also expected to be of interest to domestic users; anyone who needs to locate someone such as an elderly relative travelling away from home, small children out on their own...
-- Donated phones can help seniors - Senior centers in Michigan are asking the community for phone donations to better arm elderly people during an emergency.
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