As phones becomes PCs, shouldn't you control your phone, not the phone company?

Skype will announce results of their Zogby consumer survey tomorrow. Findings support Skype's bargaining position with mobile carriers (pre-install Skype, embed SILK) and their freedom-to-connect regulatory rhetoric (delamination, Skype Carterfone).

UPDATE: announced.

The issue: Do you want the control and power over your mobile phone you have over your PC?

People under 30 years old think of phones as PCs. They want the same choice over software, connectivity, and services they have with PCs.

US carriers block a phone's features and restrict which programs users put on their phones, a "walled garden" approach. Skype clearly wants people free to choose Skype software and hardware. 

Consumers in countries where they have more control over their mobiles, like Spain and Japan, get the idea that smartphones are like PCs, platforms for software. 

The timing is great: just two weeks until more Skype announcements at CTIA Wireless 2009 in Las Vegas. CTIAw is a tradeshow where mobile carriers and those who sell to/through them gather. Mobile phone manufacturers, transmission technology companies, software companies (the whole stack) will be there.

Mobile carrier execs decried consumer control at the September 2008 CTIA event.

In this survey, 1800 US consumers were asked:

Recently, an upper-level executive from a mobile carrier said that consumers would rather have their mobile devices' applications chosen for them than to have the ability to choose the applications for themselves. Do you agree or disagree with that statement?

4 out of 5 want the ability to choose for themselves:

Strongly agree	1.8%
Somewhat agree	10.6%
Somewhat disagree	25.2%
Strongly disagree	55.3%
Not sure	7.1%

Nick says the study shows users want the kind of application choice iPhone users find in their app store.

tags: skype, zogby, survey, statistics, stats, demography, users, customers, mobile, usa, us, jp, japan, es, spain, uk

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Skype's news release:

Worldwide, consumers still perceive wide gap between their computers and mobile devices; want greater control over mobile experience

Zogby survey of U.S., Japan, Spain and U.K. mobile users shows most do not currently download applications to mobile devices; Skype calls for greater collaboration between carriers, software providers and device makers to assist consumers in embracing next generation of mobile experience

LUXEMBOURG, March 17, 2009 - Skype published data today from a recent Zogby survey showing that most mobile users still perceive a gap between the purpose and controllability of their computers versus their mobile devices. This gap correlates with the finding that the vast majority of mobile users do not yet download applications to their mobile devices.

However, the same people expressed a strong desire to be able to choose mobile applications for themselves, and not have their carriers decide what applications they can use. The results also indicated that people will pay more for a device that will allow them to control the applications.

The study surveyed approximately 3,000 mobile users in four markets -- the U.S., U.K., Japan and Spain - between December 2008 and February 2009. Highlights of the findings include:

• 62% do not yet view their mobile device as an extension of their computer.
• Only 23% feel that they have more or the same level of control over their mobile device as they have over their computer.
• 70% have never downloaded an application to their mobile device.
• 67% want to be able to choose their mobile applications for themselves, rather than have their carriers choose for them.

Regional Breakout: Spain Leads the Way

When the results are broken out by market, regional differences emerge. In Japan, the U.S. and the U.K., respondents felt the least control over their mobile devices versus personal computers (67 percent, 78 percent, 65 percent, respectively), which correlates to few users downloading applications to their mobile devices (22% in Japan, 26% in the U.S., and 28% in the U.K.)

The results from Spain, however, paint a different picture, one that hints at what happens when mobile consumers are given more control. In that market, more than half of the respondents felt there was no difference or they had more control over their mobile devices (53%) as they have over their computers (46%). Nearly half (47%) view their mobile devices as extensions of their computers. Given these attitudes, it is perhaps not coincidental that nearly half of Spanish mobile users (48%) have downloaded applications to their devices, a much larger percentage than the other markets surveyed. And, a much larger percentage of Spain’s mobile users – 50% -- are willing to pay more for a mobile device that allows them to control their applications.

The Age Gap: Younger People Less Likely to View Mobile Devices as Merely Phones

The survey results also indicate that younger adults have a different view of what a mobile device is than their older counterparts. When asked if they view their mobile device as a phone to make calls on, a computer to access the Internet and download applications, or both, younger respondents were less likely to consider their mobile device to be just a phone. For example, in Japan, respondents under 30 were more likely to view mobile devices as a computer, or both (50%) than view them as merely phones (47%), while only 1 in 4 respondents in that market between the ages of 50 and 64 shared a similar view.

“These results show that work could be done to continue to blur the line between the computer and the mobile device, and that advances in new Internet-based services and mobile devices will help drive innovation. Overall, people want the ability to have control over which applications they download and this is consistent with trends in other industries,” said Chad Bohnert, VP Marketing and E-Commerce at Zogby International.

“This is a clear call to action for all of us in the communications industry – carriers, device manufacturers, and software companies like Skype – to work together to deliver what the mobile consumer, especially the next generation of device and data plan buyers, obviously want and expect,” said Scott Durchslag, Chief Operating Officer of Skype. “Together, we can bring a rich PC-like communications experience to mobile devices – one that combines voice, video, presence, instant messaging, and file sharing. In doing so, consumers win, and so does the industry as it fuels growth in data minutes and revenues.”

To answer mobile consumer demand, Skype is focused on delivering more choice, value, and functionality to the billions of mobile devices in the market today. In recent months, Skype now offers mobile applications for a wide range of operating systems, including Android, Windows Mobile, and Java-enabled phones, and is now available on more than 100 devices from LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson. In addition, the 3Skypephone, available from Hutchison Whampoa's wireless subsidiary 3, has been used to make more than 300 million Skype-to-Skype calls.

UPDATE: Added "People v. Walled Garden" graphic by Phil Wolff