The US 'Cellphone' - Commodity rather than Lifeline

Reading Nick's post on the Carphone Warehouse UK mobile usage survey got me thinking about the very different and strangely barren mobile landscape in the USA… Despite Americans' techno-friendliness and ease with technology the US (and to an extent Canada) were latecomers to 'cellphones' and today seem to be the only developed countries in the world which haven't developed a deep, multi-dimensional relationship with them. Yes, to some extent 'cells' are techno-hubs there too, but in a much diminished way. At Thinktank we have researched the mobile phone market around the globe quite extensively; the US always stands out. North Americans, even if young and techy and into gadgets, struggle to come up with more than two mobile phone brands. When asked what phone they have they’ll probably mention their carrier/network rather than the mobile phone manufacturer. For many US consumers the mobile phone is what the provider makes it. And it is true that that's rather less than in Europe or Asia. In group discussions with young Americans I've often heard that you can never really ‘own’ a mobile phone in the States. Strictly speaking, this isn't true any more - mobiles did indeed become 'portable' in 2003. However, since this happened rather late in the day it has not been anchored in consumers' heads. As a consequence they feel that mobile phones only work as communication devices for as long as the contract with the operator lasts. After that point they consider the phone useless, the device dead…you can’t use it ever again, you can’t do anything with it. There is no sim card slot in CDMA phones, the technical standard which dominateed the US market for a long time and still persists alongside GSM today. Again this has led to perceptions that the ‘sim card’ (the heart) belongs to the operator and that everything you save into the phone disappears as soon as you change provider. Manufacturer brands have much more limited visibility - although Motorola has been making more of an impact lately - than they do elsewhere. The carriers are holding the keys to the communication but also the relationship with the sector. And much of US carrier marketing seems stuck in price promotions and communication about tariffs vs aiming to forge brand relationships. As a consequence the functional/rational rules and US mobile phones have lost much of the power as fashion accessories, status symbols, displays of tech-savviness that they hold in other markets. In fact, mobiles - compared to other gadgets like iPods and Blackberries - can be considered a bit passé. 'Aren't cellphone a bit 90s?' as one group respondent was asking recently. At the same time mobiles, whilst still considered very useful, are far less pivotal in people's lives. The mobile phone there is more disposable than essential, is more replaceable commodity than a uniquely important piece of kit, merely a tool with a short expiry date but not 'your lifeline'. And as such I would guess a lesser commercial opportunity - even for US operators themselves.