CES 2008 - Most Popular Cellular Devices

By: Tessa Rudd

Editor-in-Chief

Chitika | Pulse

a weekly data analysis medium for the online marketing industry

Issue II
Chitika | Pulse Archive

Motorola took the lead as number one brand, winning in two categories at the annual CNET sponsored Best of CES Awards. Chitika’s network reflects the same trend, according to data queried over the past week, as Motorola was the most popular cellphone/smartphone brand for Chitika’s online consumers.

The Motorola Rokr E8, premiering first at this year’s CES, won awards for both Best of CES’s “people’s voice”, and, “best new cellphone or smartphone,” categories.

Evaluating data queried from January 7th to January 14th Chitika ranked the top five most popular cellphones and smartphones based on clicks generated through Chitika’s system and then analyzed into relative percentages.

In ranking the top five most popular cellphones/smartphones on Chitika’s network, Apple’s iPhone 8gb came in as number 1, representing a total 28.47% of the relative top five. However, three of the five cellphones/smartphones ranked in this study were Motorola brand and represented a total 56.04% of the relative top five. The RAZR V3 came in as number two, the Motorola ROKR E1 came in at number three, and the Motorola RAZR V3i ranked as number five.

The remaining two cellphones/smartphones in Chitika’s top five were Apple iPhones, the 4GB and 8GB, representing a total 53.96% of the five ranked.

CNET describes that 2008’s cellphone trends are all about quality over quantity, reporting, “some serious competition for the Best of CES award in the cellphones and smartphones category,” further noting that is was, “a good fight”.

This trend of the Motorola brand domineering over Apple, reflected by Best of CES 2008 and reported on Chitika’s network in the past week, is poignant considering the recent and ubiquitous popularity of Apple’s iPhone.

It is especially surprising that Rokr E8 won Best of CES’s “good fight” in the best cellphone/ smartphone category; noting that unlike the iPhone, the winning Rokr E8 is more accurately categorized as a ‘music phone’ than a ’smartphone’.

High quality media playing capability is a feature Motorola wants to domineer in; Motorola President of Mobile Devices, Stu Reed reports Motorola is, “dispelling the myth that mobile phones with music features are inferior to stand-alone audio devices”.

On the contrary, Apple refers to iPhone as a, “breakthrough internet device,” with features that include; digital music player, a 2-megapixel camera, high-resolution 3.5-inch display, full internet browsing, and OS X.

Motorola’s newly launched Rokr E8 boasts its supreme digital music player capacity as its exclusive premier feature.

Maybe it’s all about the music?

Cost is a factor that must be taken into consideration. Perhaps the reflected popularity of Motorola’s cellphones has to do with their afford-ability, ranging between $0-$200, while the iPhone currently retails for $499 for a 4GB (with 2 year contract), and $599 for an 8GB (with 2 year contract). It is also interesting to note that AT&T is a service provider for all the Motorola and Apple devices among Chitika’s top five.

The popularity of cellphones and smartphones is an interesting trend that we are seeing at both CES and on Chitika’s system. 2008 will be a big year when it comes to innovations in mobile devices and the expanding the mobile internet capacity. Chitika is already carving out exciting innovations in mobile space—Stay tuned!

About Chitika | Pulse

Chitika | Pulse is a weekly publication that highlights emerging trends in online advertising and merchandising in the blogosphere.

By offering a succinct analysis of online consumer behavior in Chitika’s network, Chitika | Pulse exclusively correlates trends to address a wide range of topics related to online branding, e-commerce, retail in the long tail, and direct merchandising within the blogosphere and social networks.

-By Tessa Rudd, Account Executive - Advertising Media Division