Come for the Hardware, Stay for the Apps: Tech News [GigaOm]

An excerpt from a timely mobile Internet device snapshot

Deloitte found that 58 percent of the almost 2,000 respondents reported that their main criteria for buying a smartphone were quality, camera, size, keyboard and price. Just 18 percent said apps and their functionality influenced their buying decision. This would seem to echo a recent Pew Internet study that found only 35 percent of people have apps on their phones, and only 25 percent actually use them. For all their growth in the last couple of years, apps aren’t quite mainstream yet.

But here’s the thing: Once people start using the apps, many are finding it’s changing their habits and relationships with other devices. Among app users, 42 percent have diminished or lessened their use of MP3 players, and 38 percent have done the same with AM/FM radios. Another 30 percent favor their phone over handheld gaming devices, and 28 percent are avoiding their GPS personal navigation devices.

Come for the Hardware, Stay for the Apps: Tech News «