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Windows Mobile a Man's Smartphone?

Posted on Monday, Nov 26, 2007 by Dieter Bohn
 
Filed Under: News; Tags: gender

Manly
(Photo by gregor_y, remixed)

Yikes - I would not have guessed this:

According to a recent research by Microsoft, only 14.6% of the Windows Mobile usrs are women, compared with 85.4% of men. This is a serious indicator that in the next generation of Windows Mobile phones marketed in Japan, they should design it so that women will be more comfortable to use it.

Read: Windows Mobile in Japan

I'd hazard a guess that this isn't just a Japanese issue. Is there something manly (or anti-woman?) about Windows Mobile? A bit of hunting doesn't show a definitive study (or rather, a definitive study we don't have to pay for), but it seems pretty clear that smartphone usage does tend to trend male.

...We'll give a shiny penny to the first person who can explain this divide to us without devolving into offensive gender stereotypes. In other words, saying there aren't enough pink Windows Mobile phones will earn you a slap on the wrist, not the penny.

 
 

Comments

Men are boys, and smartphones of any type are the new man toy?
Submitted by driazen (not verified) on Mon, 11/26/2007 - 10:44.
maybe what we are seeing is the percentage of geek girls that like customizable phones? :)
Submitted by Kraulin (not verified) on Mon, 11/26/2007 - 12:44.
This is sort of easy actually...

I bet if you looked at the numbers of Linux users, you'd fine a similar skew and just like all techy stuff, males tend to be more intrigued by gadgets than females (except for the gals at Shiny Shiny :p )

I know of one female with a ppc-6700--she's a neurolinguist at NYU, so that makes sense. You also have that "business-man" bias.

The 15% of females who do use WM I be are overwhelmingly Smartphone users (WM standard)--I've seen quite a few using Q's, BlackJacks and Dash's.

Fact is, until recently WM devices were bulky and more functional than fashionable. A friend recently came in with (gasp) an iPhone. When I showed her how a Centro or any WM device was cheaper and can do much more, her one response in defense of the iPhone: "Yeah, but it's pretty".

So there you go :D
Submitted by Malatesta on Mon, 11/26/2007 - 14:25.
Popular wisdom suggests that when needing directions, women ask, men would rather wonder around a bit...

Doesn't this bias result from the oxymoronic designation smartphone? I'm not knocking Windows Mobile too hard, my current phone runs WM6 and I don't mind wondering around a bit inside the OS to make it meet my usability expectations.

I think women are just more practical when it comes to cell phones, they insist that it works first and foremost as a phone, reliably and conveniently, something that can't always be said of WM based devices.
Submitted by pelona (not verified) on Mon, 11/26/2007 - 14:57.
[COLOR="Navy">I know several guys who refuse to get a Windows phone. They have Blackberries and even use flip phones!! [/COLOR]
Submitted by The Phone Diva (not verified) on Mon, 11/26/2007 - 19:38.
I vote the "no pink smartphone" theory....and want my penny

Most girls I know could care less about electronics, the "next best advancement" in technology, etc. I'm sure most (not all) would rather have a pretty flip phone that makes phone calls than a phone that can watch a Slingbox.
Submitted by Pattycerts (not verified) on Tue, 11/27/2007 - 00:36.
I vote the "no pink smartphone" theory....and want my penny

Most girls I know could care less about electronics, the "next best advancement" in technology, etc. I'm sure most (not all) would rather have a pretty flip phone that makes phone calls than a phone that can watch a Slingbox.


The manufacturers arnt trying hard enough. If I was making a smartphone for girls I would design around social networks and relationships. I dont think people are doing that.

BTW, there has been a few pink WM phones.





Surur
Submitted by surur (not verified) on Tue, 11/27/2007 - 02:50.
I vote the "no pink smartphone" theory....and want my penny

Most girls I know could care less about electronics, the "next best advancement" in technology, etc. I'm sure most (not all) would rather have a pretty flip phone that makes phone calls than a phone that can watch a Slingbox.



[COLOR="Navy">GIRLS, or women? Because many WOMEN do have smartphones!![/COLOR]
Submitted by The Phone Diva (not verified) on Tue, 11/27/2007 - 15:15.
Maybe they did not ask the RIGHT women. I hate researches and avoid them like the plague and don't really use the phone as a show-thing. So I have a pda-phone where I can have all my most important data stored and accessible at all times. My husband has a candy-bar phone because he is minimalist and thinks a phone is for talking, but then he asks me about things all the time and waits till I get the answer from my pda-phone. Ergo, I have the control. Information is power.
Submitted by wovens (not verified) on Wed, 11/28/2007 - 11:33.
I think it is most because of the size and awkwardness that used to be associated with a Windows mobile phone. My first smartphone was a Treo 300 which was very big but it was basically the only (or smallest) option at the time. By the time the Treo 600 came out I jumped on it because of size even though there were other BIG windows alternatives. Until recently most women I know have had blackberries or Treos. Those windows mobile phones used to be HUGE and ugly. NOw you have the Q, dash, blackjack, etc. As they are made prettier there will be more women buyers.
Submitted by BigTreo (not verified) on Wed, 11/28/2007 - 12:14.

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