As Spec-War Peaks, Software Experience is the Key Differentiator for Smartphones – Findings

OEMs will have to adopt an experience driven approach enabled by OS features as the ‘spec-war’ reaches its peak. A hefty 158 different smartphone brands and OEMs in the Indian market research finds out that over 1476 device models, 72% of Android Phone buyers did not get the latest Android OS or its features at the time of purchase in 2015. Further end-to-end study of 400 smartphone users across major cities revealed that only 38% of Android users had updated their Android OS at least once.

The research conducted by CREO and commissioned through CyberMedia Research unveils in its ‘State of Mobile Operating System Adoption In India’ suggests that  OEMs will have to adopt an experience driven approach enabled by OS features as the ‘spec-war’ reaches its peak.

The study of smartphone users on the other hand, reveals that some of the most common user expectations from an OS update  are “Performance Improvement” (77%) followed by “New Features” (57%).

Reinstating CREO’s focus on software experience, Sai Srinivas, CEO, says that “Regular and relevant software updates ensure that the customer experience is always smooth. At CREO, we promise to release these updates every month, along with powerful and functional features, that give you an experience of A New Phone Every Month!”

The study on OEMs also goes on to reveal that most brands (95%) are only customizing the software at the UI level, which is cosmetic and affects only the OS’s appearance. Commenting on this, Sai adds that, “Most other available Android based OS’ in the market are mere skins of each other. What makes us different is that with our Operating System, we will stay true to the Stock Android UI which we all love, and instead work on building OS level features unheard of on any other Smartphone.”

The OEM study clearly reveals that software updates, rather than hardware, emerges as the differentiator and is the future of Smartphones. The research further suggests that OEMs will have to adopt an experience driven approach enabled by OS features as the ‘spec-war’ reaches its peak.