The boys love their toys: Ladies lag in smartphone use

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The boys love their toys: Ladies lag in smartphone use



For all the flashing of iPhones, BlackBerrys and other smartphones, you'd think anyone without one was spending their days etching drawings onto cave walls in order to communicate.

Perception, however, isn't reality -- at least not for Canadians without a Y chromosome.

New data from IDC Canada suggest the majority of women have yet to adopt the trendy devices, which are now owned by 42% of mobile subscribers across the country. Of that group, roughly six in 10 are male.

"Almost since the beginning of smartphones, (ownership) has consistently skewed male -- particularly with high-end phones," says Brandon Mensinga, senior mobile analyst with IDC Canada.

"That gap may be decreasing incrementally over time but it's still there.

"Techno gadgets, by default, seem to be more attractive to men."

Indeed, a 2010 AdMob study analyzed ownership of four leading smartphone platforms and found they all tilted male -- with Google's Android especially so -- at 73%.

Research released Wednesday by MasterCard and Environics Research Group sheds light on the phenomenon, with demographic data suggesting that young women and mothers may be leading a change.

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In a nationwide poll of 2,000 Canadian women, conducted in the summer of 2010, ownership of smartphones (cellphones with advanced computing and web-surfing capabilities) reached 36% among those aged 18 to 34 who had no kids and were working full time. Women in the same age group, but not working full time, followed at 27%.

Twenty-one per cent of mothers with at least one child under the age of 18 owned a smartphone. Ownership fell to 11% among women 35 and older with no kids at home, and sat at 6% among those 55 and older.

"Technology needs to perform a real function for women, as opposed to being a toy or a fashion accessory," says David MacDonald, an executive with Environics.

"If smartphones are going to have higher adoption amongst this group, women need to be convinced that they're affordable, and will work quickly and easily."

Sasha Krstic, a vice-president at MasterCard, says the research "very clearly" demonstrates that women are taking a utilitarian approach to this type of purchase.

"Almost regardless of (demographic), they're using their phones for practical purposes," says Krstic. "Women are looking at them as a tool and not a gadget."

Adoption, however, appears to be inevitable.

IDC Canada's Mensinga says shipment figures suggest that within six months, smartphone users will make up more than half of mobile subscribers in Canada.

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association expects the trend to result in a doubling of mobile data traffic every year through 2014 -- a rate that, if translated to vehicle volume, would see the Trans-Canada Highway expand to 64 from four lanes during the same time frame.

"I was just looking at a wireless carrier's latest report and saw that the smartphone portion of their overall subscriber base had increased a full 10% in 12 months," says Marc Choma, spokesman for the CWTA.

"Along with tablets, they're definitely the device of the future."

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A new study suggests six out of 10 smartphone owners in Canada are men.