Spb Pocket PC Survey Results

Spb Software House has released the results of their last survey, and as always, it makes for an interesting read.
In particular the comparisons to last years results are worth looking at closely. I have included a snapshot of a small part of the results to whet your appetite

The following text is taken from their press release issued on the 7th December 2005

Software House announces the results of the second annual Spb Pocket PC Survey, a global survey for Pocket PC users. We would like to thank all who participated in the survey. The results of this survey will help us understand Pocket PC users and their needs better. This year we have the exciting opportunity to compare the results of the two surveys and understand what changes are occuring within the Pocket PC community.

Our desire is for everyone to see the up-to-date situation in the Pocket PC world. Therefore, we are publishing the comparative statistical results of the two surveys. Spb Surveys are an important part of Spb's strategy to give back to the Pocket PC community and the results have been as highly appreciated by developers and manufacturers as they have been by users.

All survey participants have been entered into a drawing to win an i-Mate JasJar. The winner is Paolo Animato!

The following are some of the more interesting Spb Pocket PC Survey results. Please note that this survey shows the image of an average "Pocket PC community user", a user who has access to the Internet and visits Pocket PC related web sites and forums.

• The average age of survey respondents is about 33 years, which is two years less than the previous year. Occupation has not changed much, but we do see more students among the active Pocket PC users.
  
  The most popular Pocket PC brands are, again, HP iPAQ [29%] and Dell Axim [24%]. Our respondents have been using their Pocket PCs for a little bit longer than 2 years and more than half have previously used Palm devices.

• An overwhelming majority [94%] of Pocket PC users have purchased accessories for their devices, the most popular being:
  
• Memory card [85%]. The most popular are 1GB Secure Digital Cards. The average card size is 1.16 GB (!), compared with 341 MB last year!
  - Screen protectors [69%]
  - Cases [63%]
  - Stylus [40%]
  - GPS [36%]  
  
  
• The question "What do you use your Pocket PC for?" gave the following results:
  - Organizer [85%]
  - Browsing the Internet [70%]
  - Listening to Music [69%]
  - Games [65%]
  - Emails [64%]
  - Using the Pocket PC as a phone grew from 14% to 36%!
  
  
• In fact, phone functionality is considered to be much more important than a year ago. When choosing a Pocket PC device, 16% of respondents said they pay attention to the phone functionality (only 6% last year), which makes this the second most important characteristic.
  
  
• 77% of Pocket PC users have ever purchased Pocket PC software. The most popular types of programs are:
  - System Utilities [82%]
  - File Explorer [67%]
  - Video [66%]
  - Office [57%]
  - Travel and Maps [54%]
  - Picture Viewer [54%]
  - Music [52%]
  
  The full comparative results of Spb Pocket PC Survey 2004 and 2005 are available here