CMR Study Reveals Consumers are Prioritizing Audio Quality Over Camera in their Smartphone Purchase

 Consumer Study 

* Indians consider audio quality as one of the most important factors in their next smartphone purchase with a score of 66 out of 100, followed by battery life at 61, and camera at 60

As per a new study by CyberMedia Research (CMR), Indian Consumers are now prioritising audio quality as a key smartphone purchase driver ahead of camera and battery. In fact across all parameters one in every four users have stated audio quality as the most important factor while selecting their smartphone. For the first time ever, consumers are more tuned into ‘audio quality’, possibly driven by long hours spent alone in a homebound economy. In doing so, they are also seeking better, immersive experiences.

“Given the advancements in smartphone camera and battery, I believe consumers are mostly satisfied with industry-leading innovations therein. On the other hand, in the current homebound economy, consumers are getting more aware, and paying more heed to audio quality. As such, they are putting it on priority for the neo normal, from a communication and content consumption point of view,” said Satya Mohanty, Head-Industry Consulting Group, CMR.

According to Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, “These interesting study findings provide us with a basis to better understand evolving consumer aspirations around smartphone audio. Consumers are now seeking infinitely better and immersive listening experiences, whenever and wherever they go. Across use cases, ranging from OTT consumption to mobile gaming & even UGC, consumers seek more high-quality sound. This is where brands with industry-leading innovations, such as Dolby, will stand to shine and fulfill consumer aspirations.”

The CMR study titled “What Audio Means for Indian Smartphone users?” categorizes Indian consumers, based on their audio consumption patterns, into three broad cohorts:

* Digital Natives who spend >20 hours weekly (39%)

* Digital Dependents who spend 10-20 hours weekly (44%)

* Digital Laggards who spend < 10 hours weekly (17%)

Online content consumption – movies and music, have witnessed a tremendous growth, driven by the ubiquitous smartphones. Over the past few years, the rise of affordable and value for money smartphones has fueled content consumption, on-the-go, and at home.

India loves to binge watch on video streaming platforms, cutting across genres, including episodic content and user-generated video content on social media. In the midst of the pandemic, OTT platforms are benefiting from increased viewership, as well as new subscribers. Amongst the three cohorts, Digital Natives tend to spend more time on OTT platforms & rate audio as the most important factor considered while buying their current smartphone. 

Here are some of the most interesting study findings:

* Audio quality matters. Indians consider audio quality as one of the most important factors in their next smartphone purchase with a score of 66 out of 100, followed by Battery Life at 61, and Camera at 60. Smartphone users consume audio mostly through

* listening to music on popular audio OTT platforms (94%),

* watching video – movies, OTT content, or user-generated content on social networks (96%).

* Preferred audio accessories include wired earplugs and earbuds. 78% of the consumers prefer wired earplugs, while 65% indicate using earbuds.

* Video consumption differ with consumer personas. For instance, Digital Natives prefer videos of shorter duration (38%) whereas Digital Laggards prefer videos of longer duration (23%).

* Better audio experience means differently to different consumer personas. For instance, Digital Laggards associate better audio experience to voice and dialogue clarity (69%), whereas Digital Natives associate it to an immersive experience (61%).

* Five in every eight users (62%), use audio during gaming. 72% of those users are satisfied with it.

* Indians more tuned to audio problems. Three in every seven users face some problems in smartphone audio on a regular basis. Problems faced include

* Audio being too soft (33%)

* Audio being too loud (30%)

* Distorted audio (24%)

Note for Editors:

The CMR study titled “What Audio Means for Indian Smartphone Users?” is based on a digital survey covering 1012 respondents, across six cities of India, namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad, covering the age groups of 18 to 40, and socio-economic levels of SEC A and B. The study was conducted in early to late July 2020.

For results based on a randomly chosen sample of this size, there is 95% confidence that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3% of what they would be if the entire population had been surveyed.

To know more, and download the report, visit www.cmrindia.com/shelf

Give Wings to Your Photography Dreams with the All New Lava Z66

Indian mobile handset brand, Lava International Limited, announced the launch of its new smart phone- Lava Z66. The Lava Z66 is equipped with a 13MP selfie camera with screen flash to capture stunning portraits even in low-light. It also sports a dual rear camera setup of 13MP + 5MP with LED flash which renders a superior photography experience. To enhance the user experience further, the smartphone camera has been packed with premium features like beauty mode, night mode, HDR mode, burst mode, panorama, time lapse, slow motion along with filters for every mood.

The smartphone is powered with a 1.6 GHz octa-core processor for a seamless performance and features a 6.08-inch HD+ notch display with a 2.5D curved screen & 19:9 aspect ratio. This 3GB RAM smartphone has a storage capacity of 32GB (expandable up to 128GB) for storing your precious moments and videos. Priced at Rs. 7777, Lava Z66 is currently available in three striking colour variants – Marine Blue, Berry Red and Midnight Blue. This Made in India smartphone is currently available at offline stores and will soon be available on Amazon and Flipkart.

The Lava Z66 draws power from 3950 mAh battery which provides up to 16 hours of talk time*. The smartphone runs on Stock Android OS (Android 10) and is free from pre-loaded bloatware which ensures a smooth performance and a clean Android experience. For improved device security, Lava Z66 has been equipped with a fingerprint scanner and a face-unlock feature that unlocks the phone in just 0.6 seconds*.

Commenting on the launch, Tejinder Singh, Head- Product, Lava International said, “Lava Z66 is an exceptional device in the budget segment for all the photography enthusiasts out there. This beautiful device not only lets you click the most stunning pictures but also delivers a power packed all round performance.”

The Lava Z66 comes with dual sim support (4G+4G), Bluetooth V4.2, OTG support, Micro-USB, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The phone also has an array of sensors that includes an accelerometer, ambient light and a proximity sensor.

*under Lava testing conditions

Lava International Limited 

#ProudlyIndian

Lava International Limited is a leading Indian Mobile Handset Company with operations in 20+ countries. In the international markets the company is growing rapidly and is already among the top players in many of these countries it operates in. 

Lava has always been at the forefront of Govt. of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. Lava was the first mobile brand to take a lead in support of this important nation building program and had set up a design team in India, becoming the first brand to design phones in the country. With this ‘Design in India’ initiative, Lava is now the only Mobile handset company that makes truly ‘Made In India’ phones with complete control on design and manufacturing within the country. 

With the vision to “Empower people to do more, to be more” the company was established in 2009. Lava International Limited is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The company has its manufacturing facilities and a repair factory in an approximately 300,000 square feet area in Noida. The manufacturing plants have a capacity of manufacturing 40 million phones per annum.

We Make in India, We Make for India.

TECNO Launches SPARK 5 Pro, Offers Segment-Leading Big Dot-in Display & Five Cameras for Better Entertainment

Further strengthening its smartphone offerings from the Spark series, TECNO, the global premium smartphone brand, launched SPARK 5 Pro. TECNO SPARK 5Pro is designed to cater to the needs of the ‘Greater Bharat’ who are the aspiring, value-seeking consumers looking for premium features at an affordable price

Priced at INR 10, 499 SPARK 5 Pro has Super Big 6.6’ HD + Dot-in display coupled with 90.2% screen to body ratio and 20:9 aspect ratio. The immersive display and wide aspect ratio will add new spark to movie watching and gaming experience.

The Quad Rear camera (16MP+2+2+AI Lens) on SPARK 5 Pro boasts of a 16MP primary AI camera with F1.8 apertures, 2MP with 120-degree ultra-wide lens and macro lens for capturing wide frames and 4cm extreme close up shot, and a 2MP Depth lens that allows you to click breathtaking portrait photos that can be shared across social networks. Additionally, you can enjoy the AR mode on both front and rear cameras to enhance the fun aspect of photography.  For selfie lovers, the front sports a 8 MP AI dot-in selfie camera with dual front flash. Further, the device comes with an AI beauty mode that helps you click real and clearer selfies. Night or low light photos are also brighter with F1.8 large aperture and Quad flash in rear camera and dual flash in selfie camera

TECNO SPARK 5 pro comes with a high-density large capacity battery 5000 mAh. Once fully charged, it will run for the whole day and you can watch 17 hours of videos, enjoy 115 hours of music, play games for 13 hours, browse the web for 18 hours, call for 31 hours, standby time 480 hours. So, go all-out on BIG Multi-tasking, especially for you. It comes with other AI features like AI power saving, Safe Charge which automatically cuts the power when phone is fully charged to avoid overcharging. So, put all your worries to rest, now with this Best battery Smartphone

The SPARK 5 Pro is available in vibrant colour variants – Seabed Blue, Spark Orange and Ice Jadeite. Backed by a powerful A25 Octacore processor, face unlock and smart fingerprint scanner, 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM along with Android 10 version out of the box.

TECNO has been consistently pushing the envelope to deliver to the customers a complete smartphone experience.  TECNO SPARK 5 Pro is a complete ‘value package’ and yet a genuine all-rounder which brings in the combination of unique offers. Available for purchase across 35000+ retail stores pan India.

Amercian Kodak to layoff 4,500 employees

Eastman Kodak Co posted a sharp quarterly loss and said it would cut up to 4,500 jobs this year after suffering a dramatic decline in demand for digital cameras and commercial printing equipment.

The report sent shares of Kodak down 25 per cent to a historical low, making the company one of the biggest percentage losers on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The maker of cameras, picture frames and consumer printers and provider of commercial printing services, also plans another round of restructuring to cut costs, the latest in a string of such moves dating back to at least 2003.

About a year ago, Kodak said it had completed an expensive four-year restructuring that transformed it into a maker of digital photography products and printers. During that restructuring, Kodak halved its workforce, which now stands at about 26,900 people.

The company said on Thursday it would reduce its workforce by between 3,500 and 4,500 positions in 2009. Kodak late in 2008 had earmarked 1,000 to 1,500 jobs to be cut in 2009, and on Thursday said an additional 2,000 to 3,000 jobs will be cut.

Standard & Poor's Equity Research Analyst Erik Kolb questioned if Kodak's cost cuts would be deep enough, and wondered what strategy it can dream up to spur sales.

"They were late to the game in their shift to digital and they have been playing catch-up since," he said. "Now, given the deterioration of consumer spending trends, they are still struggling to turn the business away from film sales."

Since late 2003, Kodak has focused on the expanding market for digital devices and services, hoping to outpace the drop in demand for film. But the economy has soured, and consumers are scaling back on vacations and other events that typically spur use of photography services.

Its fourth-quarter loss from continuing operations was $137 million, or 51 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $215 million, or 75 cents per share. Kodak called the results preliminary because additional asset-related charges may be recorded for the period.

Excluding special items such as restructuring and legal costs, Kodak's loss was 8 cents a share, far short of analysts' expectations of a profit of 19 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. Revenue fell 24 per cent to $2.43 billion. Sales of products like still and video cameras and digital picture frames fell 36 per cent.

"During the last three months of the year, we experienced dramatic declines in several of our key businesses due to the slowdown in consumer spending and significantly reduced demand for capital equipment," Chief executive Antonio Perez said in a statement.

The Rochester, New York, based company's new restructuring aims at "rationalising selling, administrative, research and development, supply chain and other business resources in certain areas and consolidating certain facilities." In addition, it will waive wage increases in 2009.

In all, the moves are expected to save Kodak $300 million to $350 million a year. It expects to take charges in the range of $250 million to $300 million for the restructuring, which is expected to take place primarily in the first half of 2009.

Analyst Shannon Cross said Kodak spent about $139 million on dividend payouts in 2008, adding that the dividend "must be at risk... given the substantial pressure on operating cash flow." But despite its desire to cut costs, a spokesman for Kodak said it has no plans to change its dividend.

Agencies