The trends for smartphone products and software consumption in Taiwan: An application research combining industry analysis and consumer focus group interviews

Among all mobile multimedia internet devices (MMID), smartphones receive considerable attention from both producers and consumers. Taiwan is one country with fairly high mobile phone penetration. By 2009, Taiwan´s mobile phone penetration was hovering near 110%, with fixed lines holding a steady 55%. By May 2012, one-third of Taiwanese over age 13 owned smartphones. This paper investigates the development of Smartphone products and application software from the industry analysis based on both literature review and interviews with five managers. Those managers, holding positions in prominent, related companies, include a carrier, a device producer, a mobile application software producer and a mobile marketing company. The mobile industry interviewees includes: (1) Chunghwa Telecom, which is the largest carrier in Taiwan; (2) ACER, which is a well-known computer producer now developing smartphones and tablet products as well; (3) Ecowork and MobiMedia, which are two larger application software and mobile marketing companies in Taiwan. Also, the researcher launched several consumer focus group interviews to gather information regarding trending in smartphone products and software consumption. This study shows the viewpoints from both mobile industry representatives and consumers.