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QWERTY Handsets Make a Run

There are some very good reasons why we’re seeing more Mobile phones with QWERTY keyboards in the handset market today. Not only are there are more models to choose from, but also more tech-savvy consumers are finding reasons to buy them.

According to recent consumer information from The NPD Group, sales of handsets with QWERTY keyboards have grown 150 percent in the past year. Clearly, many of these are smartphones, but not all buyers are mobile professionals.

Better for Messaging and More

The increased ease and speed with which consumers can use messaging functions, of course, fuels the growth of QWERTY keyboards, whether it’s email, text messaging, or mobile instant messaging. In addition, keyboards come in handy when adding words to a picture sent via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).

Despite the growing success of text messaging, not everyone likes tapping out messages with the limited number of keys on a traditional 12-key phone. Nor is everyone satisfied with T9 predictive text software, or other predictive-text flavors, such as Motorola’s iTAP or ZiCorp’s eZiText.

In addition to messaging, there are other key activities that lend themselves to a QWERTY keyboard, including the following:

Typing memos or notes
Writing short reports
Logging on to secure Web sites
Filling out Web forms (e.g., when shopping online)

The Most Popular QWERTY Keyboard Handset Models

Some of the more popular models that are finding their way into consumers’ hands are the following:

Nokia’s 6800, which features a unique fold-out keyboard
Palm’s Treo 600s and 650s, which have the popular integrated Personal Information Management (PIM) functionality
RIM’s BlackBerries, which offer push email and, though aimed at enterprise users, are gaining favor among some consumers
Danger’s Sidekicks, which feature a unique swing-up display and good Web access

Another new keyboard model that has the potential to win big with consumers is LG’s VX9800. This multimedia device features an MP3 player, VCAST (Verizon’s video service), large stereo speakers, 1.3-megapixel camera, miniSD slot, and EV-DO for fast data connections.

At $300, the VX9800 also sports a hefty price tag, but that price is likely to drop over the next six months, bringing it in line with other higher-volume, mid-tier phones on the market.

Keyboard Phone Sales Metrics

In 2002 just a few models offered a QWERTY keyboard. Now more than two-dozen such phones are on the market. NPD’s market tracking data illustrates the strong growth for these types of handsets:

Keyboard phone sales jumped 118% last year
Keyboard phone sales increased 147% last quarter, compared with the same quarter a year ago
Keyboard phone sales exceeded 1 million units for the first time in a single quarter in Q3 2005

A Bright Future

The market can expect to see even more people adopt a full QWERTY keyboard in the next few years, as mobile email grows beyond corporate users, and more text-intensive applications start to proliferate among consumers.

One new wrinkle is likely to come from Digit Wireless and its innovative Fastap keyboard, which features keys laid out in hills and valleys that make entering text similar to a full QWERTY, but with a smaller form factor. Right now, it’s only available on an LG handset in Canada, but there are strong indications that a phone with Fastap will soon be offered in the U.S., as well.

Whether its QWERTY or Fastap, once more people get a taste for this type of text input on a mobile phone, they are also more likely to use mobile data services.

Replacing Laptops?

For some consumers, QWERTY keyboard-enabled handsets are becoming a replacement for their laptops. It seems unlikely that keyboard handsets will become ubiquitous in the short-term; however, as the functionality of mobile phones improves, and as faster networks roll out over the next two years, QWERTY keyboards will surely enhance many users’ wireless experience.

In fact, I personally tested a QWERTY keyboard on a long flight to draft this very Wireless Bulletin (my laptop battery was nearly dead and I had no way to recharge it). Slowly, at first, my thumbs started tapping around the keyboard and eventually I was typing quickly enough to make some real headway. It’s not something I would want to do each time, but in a pinch it was better than attempting to do the same thing on a 12-key phone keypad, to be sure.

— Neil Strother, Research Director, Mobile Devices