Wirefly's Top 10 Phones
Reston, VA (Vocus/PRWEB) January 03, 2011
Wirefly (http://www.wirefly.com), the Internet’s leading authorized retailer of cell phones and cell phone plans, today released its annual list of its Top Ten Best Selling Cell Phones during the 2010 holiday shopping season and offers up its predictions for cell phone trends that will shape the mobile and wireless industry in 2011.
Smartphones were on everyone’s gift lists this year, claiming every position on this Top 10 list. Android-powered smartphones, such as the HTC EVO™ 4G and DROID Incredible by HTC, took 9 of the top 10 spots.
“2010 was the year of the smartphone and its popularity certainly did not wane during the holiday shopping season,” said Andy Zeinfeld, CEO of Simplexity, parent company of Wirefly.com. “Not only have smartphones gotten bigger, better, smarter and faster, but they are now more affordable - making them mainstream consumer devices.”
Wirefly’s Top 10 Best Selling Cell Phones for the 2010 Holiday Season (Black Friday thru Christmas Eve)*
1. HTC EVO™ 4G (Sprint)
2. DROID Incredible by HTC (Verizon Wireless)
3. Samsung Captivate™ (AT&T)
4. DROID X by Motorola (Verizon Wireless)
5. Samsung Intercept™ (Sprint)
6. BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 (AT&T)
7. Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 (AT&T)
8. DROID 2 Global by Motorola (Verizon Wireless)
9. Samsung Epic™ 4G (Sprint)
10. Samsung Fascinate™ (Verizon Wireless)
*The iPhone 4 is not currently sold by Wirefly
As the largest authorized online retailer of cell phones for all four major wireless carriers in the U.S., Wirefly has unparalleled insight into cell phone trends, and, more importantly, consumer behavior in the wireless market today. Millions of people flock to Wirefly.com every day to research, compare and shop for cell phones, which includes a vast selection of hundreds of the latest Android, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry smartphones.
Zeinfeld noted, “Because of our position as an industry stalwart, we have a unique view of the trends driving the wireless business. We predict that many of the trends that began to emerge during the last half of 2010 will continue to gain popularity in 2011. However, ours is an extremely competitive and dynamic market, so we also expect to see the emergence of new technology and new trends in the coming year.”
Wirefly’s Mobile Trend Predictions for 2011 (in the U.S.)
Prepaid Gets Smarter – We expect to see even more consumers adopt the contract-free lifestyle in 2011, a trend that started to gain serious momentum in 2010. As a result, we will see an influx of affordably priced prepaid smartphones, particularly Android-powered smartphones, from manufacturers that are less established in the U.S.
Voice/Email No Longer the Killer Apps – In 2011, the ability to make phone calls or send emails will no longer be the driving factor for purchasing a cell phone. Rather, consumers will seek out smartphones that are capable of supporting advanced applications to maximize productivity and keep them connected and entertained while on the go. Examples include mobile commerce and video-centric apps such as video chat/calls, video sharing, and movie downloading and streaming.
Video Chat: From Novelty to the Norm – Video conferencing from a PC is nothing new, but it wasn’t until this past year, with the introduction of the front-facing camera on a handful of high-end smartphones, that people were able to make mobile video calls. In 2011, we expect the front-facing camera to become a feature available on more handsets and consumers will embrace this more personalized way of communicating - not just in wifi hotspots or to other phones, but wherever, whenever they want.
4G/LTE Takes Off – The launch of the next-generation wireless data networks 4G and LTE were met with consumer praise and industry enthusiasm in 2010. However, with the technology limited to mostly data cards and a handful of wireless devices, its debut did not have a major impact on the market. We predict that 2011 will be the year of 4G and LTE handsets. Carriers will strive to be the first to get their devices on the market, and consumers will be waiting with bated breath to get their hands on them.
Swype Technology Gains Traction – Introduced in the early part of 2010, Swype has revolutionized the way people compose words and sentences on mobile devices. This innovative technology allows users to input text faster and more intuitively with one continuous, fluid finger motion across a virtual keyboard. In 2011, we believe Swype adoption rates will continue to grow rapidly as more and more users come to prefer the smooth swipe method over tapping out a text message.
Wirefly.com provides an easy and affordable way to shop for wireless phones and accessories. Visit http://www.wirefly.com to find the best phone to fit your lifestyle needs.
About Wirefly
Wirefly is America’s trusted source for cell phones and wireless service plans. Owned and operated by Simplexity, Wirefly.com is the Internet’s #1 authorized dealer for every major cellular carrier in the U.S.: Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. Wirefly.com also offers discounts and services not available in retail wireless stores including a better selection of the latest cell phones, greater savings, straightforward pricing with no rebates, and fast, free FedEx shipping with free returns on devices from HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, LG, BlackBerry and many other cell phone handset manufacturers. Wirefly.com has been named “Best of the Web” by Forbes magazine and “Best in Overall Customer Experience” by Keynote Performance Systems. For more information about our wireless products and its services, visit Wirefly.com. Shopping from a web-enabled cell phone? Wirefly’s mobile-optimized website, mobile.wirefly.com allows consumers to quickly and easily explore its extensive catalog of cell phones and receive unbiased information from any web-enabled cell phone, regardless of operating system. With Wirefly Mobile, visitors can shop and compare phones and pricing by manufacturer, carrier or rate plan while on the go.
Contact
Megan Murray
Simplexity
703.657.4102
mmurray(at)simplexity(dot)com
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