Survey : 50% Indian consumers would buy an Android phone next. 90% would buy a tablet. Really?

Android’s hotness is growing by the day. If global majors launching competing phones at cut throat prices isn’t indicative enough, we got one more data point to prove Android’s hotness. KnowYourMobile and Demographix has conducted an online survey between May 2011 to August 2011 and came up with some very interesting trends.

50% of the Indian consumers would prefer an Android phone as their next purchase

90% of the users surveyed would buy a Tablet.

There are other interesting findings too.

• 87% users said that Operating system is an important driving factor in choosing a phone.
• 50% of the users surveyed hold a Nokia phone, but only 4% of them would buy a Nokia in their next purchase.
• High-resolution camera is an important factor to decide a phone.
• 35% of the users are interested in buying an iPhone. Because of the price and delayed launches.
• Price is not an issue in buying a phone. Really?

90% opt for Tablets?

While the tablet manufacturers will be jumping and jiving about this prospect, this number is crazy and interesting, but not outlandish. There isn’t a half-decent tablet out there in the market and 90% want to buy a tablet. I’m sure they aren’t referring to iPad. What’s the reason for so many people looking to buy a tablet? Is it the perceived convenience or is it the price? Or is it the availability of so many cheap tablets?

Price not an issue. Really?

Now this survey has some conflicting findings. There are two factors which the users are looking for when buying a phone – OS and Camera. The surveyed users has explicitly mentioned that price isn’t an issue.

For me, price is the third and the most dominant factor in deciding a phone. Price might not be a biggest factor in deciding a phone which costs Rs. 30000. At that price point, the users are looking for the latest and greatest features. If we go below 20K, price becomes a factor. The users who said price isn’t a factor, have also showed less inclination to buy an iPhone, sighting late launches and price tag. This is a paradox.

While Apple products are immensely popular worldwide, in India the delayed launches of Apple products coupled with pricey tag has made them less desirable.

If OS is a dominant factor and price isn’t, then iPhone should be the preferred choice. The late launches which the survey complains about shouldn’t be much of an issue because, iPhone 4 which is in Indian market right now is still looking for a close competition from the Android brethren. Now when we say competition, we are not talking about the cores or megapixels, we are talking about getting the job done. We are talking about user experience. iPhone 4 provides that and to get the same experience from an Android phone, an user have to be transformed to a geek.

Price is always a deciding factor in buying anything. More so with gadgets which has a very limited shelf life.

Finally

Like all surveys, this survey should be taken with a pinch of salt, pepper or any other spice of your choice. The reasons are simple :

• The survey did not reveal the sample size. Given the broad percentages mentioned (50%, 93%, 4%, 87%) I don’t expect the survey sample to be big.
• Survey is of online users. India has anywhere between 50 million to 80 million online users. Besides, how many of you would you take an online survey?
• The 50% figure referring to Android could at best be few thousand people, depending on the survey population.

PS : I’m not necessarily refuting any of the numbers given in the survey. In fact, survey’s like this provide great insights into the consumer behavior and are especially useful for the mobile phone ecosystem.  These surveys should be used as a trend and not as blind statistics.