Mobile Consumer Insights

Trend - Hardware manufacturers are creating new gaming consoles designed to be used with wireless Augmented Reality (AR) headsets. These unique handheld devices use head-mounted displays rather than traditional screens, but function like traditional game consoles instead of VR headsets.

Insight - The rapid advancement of metaverse-adjacent technologies, such as VR headsets, has made these devices far more sophisticated and cost-effective. This has led to an increased interest in these technologies from tech-enthusiast consumers looking to try new technologies as early as possible. As a result of these factors, brands in adjacent industries, such as gaming, are repurposing these new technologies to diversify product offerings in their spaces.

Trend - New artificial intelligence (AI)-powered apps that track food intake and offer constructive feedback are launching. These tools simplify calorie tracking by using AI to determine the amount of calories in each meal. The simplicity of these tools is intended to reduce friction in fitness journies.

Insight - Fitness-conscious consumers often adhere to either strict or partially restricted diets. These consumers are aware of their activity levels and strive to balance their diets around their lifestyles. However, the complexity of modern dishes introduces friction in tracking nutrient intake. Brands are recognizing the challenges surrounding accurate diet tracking, and are responding with AI-powered tools that use complex datasets to reduce user effort required to monitor their consumption habits.

Trend - Tech brands are developing head-mounted wearables with built-in high-definition screens. These devices do not have onboard processors for VR, and serve primarily as large, private, simulated screens. This enables brands to reduce prices and appeal to consumers who require on-the-go displays.

Insight - Many remote workers choose to work in environments different from their home desks, such as coffee shops, for a change of environment and mindset. These workers prioritize remote productivity solutions to optimize workflow on the go, and are drawn to low-cost solutions to these desires. Tech brands are recognizing the need for remote productivity solutions and are creating lower-cost wearables with privacy features to address these consumers.

Trend - New products are being developed that monitor virtual reality environments and release scents accordingly. These devices store scents via fluid or wax pads, and can custom-mix sources to produce more scent varieties. This is designed to enhance immersion in entertainment or for scent therapy.

Insight - The increase in popularity of metaverse applications spurred upon by new affordable hardware in the space has led to tech-curious consumers wanting to push the boundaries of what is possible in VR. These consumers are drawn to devices that push immersion further, such as haptic feedback wearables or omnidirectional treadmills. However, there is an ever-present desire for more immersion in VR applications. In recognition of this pressure, brands are experimenting with scent-based devices for VR.

Trend - Smartphone manufacturers are creating luxury phones with displays that expand horizontally by rolling. These displays function similarly to folding phones but do not leave any visible crease or visible bezel. The larger expandable screen is designed to improve both productivity and entertainment.

Insight - While smartphones have had the same design for over a decade, the recent popularity of foldable phones has led to an increase in experimentation. Consumers interested in future-facing technologies are curious about major innovations in consumer electronics, particularly smartphones, given their necessity in modern life, and are willing to pay more for unique products, especially those with added practical value. As a result, brands are improving on long-stagnated designs to offer new features.

Trend - Retailers are launching mobile apps with AI-powered features designed to replace their existing apps. These apps offer recommendations, conversational support, image search, and features unique to certain retailers. These brands aim to improve customer retention while reducing ordering friction.

Insight - Partially onset by the pandemic, many consumers are now accustomed to shopping for nearly every type of product on a website or mobile app. However, the ease of these apps makes many consumers purchase products that are not optimal, leading to high return rates. To maintain the low-friction ordering system of mobile apps while aiming to reduce return rates, many retailers looking to AI to improve services. Brands that implement these AI updates can improve customer satisfaction and retention.

Trend - Online retailers are launching shopping services specifically for VR headsets. By adding shopping directly to these devices, e-commerce is made more convenient for consumers. These immersive apps enable try-ons and previews in a 3D environment, more accurately conveying the details of products.

Insight - Tech-forward consumers have begun adopting spacial computing at accelerated rates while citing limitations of traditional human-machine interface (HMI) devices. In recognizing that consumer-grade spatial computing is in its early stages, brands are racing to ensure their services are available on these modern platforms. Brands that take advantage of the interactive HMI features native to these devices can more effectively market to both long-time users and new consumers entering this space.

Trend - Companies are using artificial intelligence to enhance news delivery through AI-powered applications and services. These tools curate news delivery to ensure only relevant information is delivered clearly and concisely. The AI tools are intended to reduce redundancy in news feeds significantly.

Insight - Time constraints are one of the largest factors that inhibit regular citizens' abilities to stay up to date on news stories. Most people do not have time to check several news outlets to sift through swathes of information, leading to most simply using social media feeds. Brands are identifying the challenges related to time and effort for news, and are creating easy-to-use, AI-powered news aggregators to draw in busier users.

Trend - Mobile phone manufacturers are launching devices equipped with additional buttons on the frame. These buttons were designed to be freely programmable by the user to add additional functionality to the phone—differentiating these products from competitors' offerings.

Insight - Nearly every consumer today has a smartphone, and many people have specific preferences in terms of brand, features, and cost. Despite the diverse needs of consumers, most smartphones on the market offer a nearly identical design and set of features, with only slight differentiations between each model. This stagnation creates a viability for brands to release unique smartphones catered to those unsatisfied with traditional phones' feature sets.

Trend - Brands are releasing gamified sleep-tracking apps to encourage sleep regulation. These applications use advanced technology either through the phone itself or through peripherals, to analyze sleeping patterns and provide gamified rewards accordingly. These apps help users feel incentivized to have healthy sleep patterns.

Insight - For many consumers in the modern era, sleep gets in the way of busy modern lives, so many treat it more as an unfortunate necessity than a daily self-care ritual. Some of these regard sleep as a chore, leading them to neglect sleep and adopt unhealthy, irregular sleeping habits. In attempting to regulate sleep, many consumers are drawn to medical assists, such as melatonin or other sleeping pills, though these are not always effective. Brands are addressing these consumers by offering services that encourage regularity, reward sleep, and make both sleeping and waking up something to look forward to.