Top 10 Hot Consumer Trends for 2013!

Ericsson ConsumerLab has identified top ten hottest consumer trends for 2013. For more than 15 years, ConsumerLab has conducted research about people's values, behavior and ways of using ICT products and services.

Here are the top 10 hottest consumer trends:

1. Cloud reliance reshapes device needs

More than 50 percent of tablet users and well above 40 percent of smartphone users in the USA, Japan, Australia and Sweden appreciate the improved simplicity of having the same apps and data seamlessly available through the cloud on multiple devices.

2. Computing for a scattered mind

From desktops, files and folders to flat surfaces, apps and cloud services, consumers are increasingly turning their backs on a computing paradigm for the focused mind. Tasks are handled at the spur of the moment - as we stand in a shopping line or talk to someone at a café. Purchase intent is higher for tablets compared to desktop PCs, and for smartphones compared to laptops.

3. Bring your own broadband to work

57 percent of smartphone users use their personal smartphone subscriptions at work. In order to remain in the loop, people bring their own smartphones with their personal smartphone subscriptions to work. Personal smartphones are increasingly being used for work, to send emails, plan business trips, find locations and more.

4. City-dwellers go relentlessly mobile

By relentlessly accessing the internet always and everywhere, consumers are now an unstoppable force making internet truly mobile. Total smartphone subscriptions will reach 3.3 billion by 2018 and mobile network coverage is one of the most important drivers of satisfaction for city life - with total satisfaction levels peaking at 85 percent in Delhi

5. Personal social security networks

As a result of economic turbulence, trust in traditional structures and authorities is decreasing and consumers increasingly trust their personal communities. Personal networks online serve as a safety net and social media is shaping up to be a serious contender to the traditional job agency.

6. Women to drive smartphone market

New figures clearly show that women drive mass market smartphone adoption. 97 percent of female smartphone owners use SMS. 77 percent send/receive photos, 59 percent use social networking, 24 percent check in at locations and 17 percent redeem coupons. Men are lower in these areas.

7. Cities become hubs for social creativity

City center dwellers have significantly more friends online than people in suburban areas. 12 percent of people that live in cities say that the main reason for using social networks is to connect and exchange ideas with others, making it the third most common reason for social networking after staying up-to-date with friends and keeping them updated.

8. In-line shopping

32 percent of smartphone users already shop with smartphones; they now start to combine in-store and online shopping aspects. They want to see products, get information and make price comparisons, and get purchases immediately without having to queue up at the cash register.

9. TV goes social

62 percent use social media while watching video and TV - and 42 percent of this subgroup discuss things they currently watch on a weekly basis. Over 30 percent are more likely to pay for content watched in social contexts. The majority of video and TV consumption on mobile devices takes place in the home.

10. Learning in transformation

Learning is transformed through both internal and external forces: Young people bring their personal technology experience into the classroom, driving a bottom-up pressure for change. Simultaneously governments and institutions look for new ICT solutions in order to be more efficient. Connectivity changes the outlook for children on a global scale. In India, around 30 million of 69 million urban children aged 9 to 18 own mobile phones.

The article was first published on www.dqindia.com