Are gender purchasing habits changing?

We live in a fast paced world where technology advances in leaps and bounds. What was essential yesterday may be forgotten today and this may be changing the purchasing habits of the genders.

In the mobile phone world this has never been more evident. 20 years ago a mobile phone weighed as much as a brick and looked pretty much like one too.

Then we saw the age of the small phone develop and the race was on to constantly create smaller and smaller mobile phones.

After miniaturization reached its practical limits a new technological twist occurred with the explosion of the internet and in particular social networking on sites such as Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter as well as Pinterest and LinkedIn.

This put miniaturization into reverse as larger and larger screens where desired to show off pictures, browse web pages and stream TV.

Smartphones and gender

If we go back in history by just 10 years to the point in time just before phones got smart the purchasing trends of the genders were clearly separate.

Men on a whole preferred mobile phones that were standard in size and had large or widely-spaced keys. Whilst women on a whole opted for mini-sized devices with smaller keys that could be easily punched with a nail.

But, then things started to change as mobile phones became smartphones. Today we have a huge variety of sizes to choose from starting at mini and running through standard to phablet at about 6 inches and finally to tablet at 7 inches and above.

Of course what we called mini 10 years ago resembles nothing like what we call mini today. A modern day mini is much bigger whilst the screen on a standard smartphone may measure 5 or more inches.

This situation is about to put men on the back foot. I personally have a phone with a screen a little over 4 inches in size but this really is the limit of my pocket.

So as women take advantage of larger-sized smartphones and phablets that boast superb screens for media and apps I am left wondering what the smartphone future has install for me?

Am to be restricted to the ranks of the less powerful mini smartphones in the future? Are pockets going to get bigger? Or, will we see a flip-style phablet launched that when folded can still find a home in my favorite trousers or pants (for those across the water).

How do you feel about the future prospects of mobile phones and do you see an innovation just around the corner?

You can view all the latest mobile phones, news and articles on Mobilephones.com.

Written by tech author Michael Brown.

The pro’s and con’s of pre-order

Whilst the standard run of the mill smartphone will simply appear on the shelves without any fanfare it seems that the common approach to launching a flagship mobile phone is very different.

First we have a run of leaks and rumours followed by an official press release. From this point on we then seem to see the handset released on pre-order for several weeks before it finally launches and actual stock materialises.

The question in my mind is do mobile phone providers sell more handsets if they become available on pre-order first and if they don’t is there any point to pre-orders?

Pro’s of pre-order

The biggest benefit to the pre-order system is that should there be a limited amount of smartphones available on launch day you have already put your order in and jumped the queue.

We also benefit from seeing the full specification and review of features listed on sites such as www.mobilephones.com along with a series of official images.

Con’s of pre-order

The biggest potential flaw in the pre-order concept is that there may only be a limited range of tariffs on offer. When launch day finally arrives there may be a flurry of new tariffs and there may just be one that would suit you better.

Breaking the norm

HTC broke the normal pre-order cycle in March by making the HTC One M8 available straight after the launch in conjunction with Carphone Warehouse whilst other stockist had to wait an extra day or so.

Samsung on the other hand has opted to follow the normal pre-order process with its flagship phone the Samsung Galaxy S5, available on to pre-order right now with stock dispatched from the 11th April.

End

So, the question still remains; Do you sell more phones if they become available on pre-order first and if you don’t is there any point?