Less and less people have been subscribing to wireless services within the last years. In 2006, 19 million subscribers were added to the then already existing 226 million, a number that is clearly below the count of new subscribers added the year before, which amounted to 25 million. One reason for the drop is the approaching saturation of the adult and teen market for handsets. This is why mobile phone companies now rapidly drop the age bar in order to obtain new customers.

There is already an ever growing population of tweens with mobile phones out there. These youngsters are tech savvy and know exactly what they want, and they are quickly becoming the new favourites of the wireless industry. Overall customers are getting younger and younger, and the tween market is a promising playground.

According to a study from KidzEyes, the market penetration among 9 to 11 year olds is currently 46%, and the number of 6 to 8 year olds with mobile phones has tripled since 2005 to 20%. Today it is not uncommon for a 5 year old to have a mobile phone.

For parents this brings the added advantage of being more in touch with their children, but often they get their kids phones without considering the features their offspring will have access to. While sms, video and mobile web appear cool and fun, they hardly help with the safety concerns of parents. Also, parents often prefer the simplified models like AT&T’s Firefly, but by now the mobile is more than just a communication device for kids. It is a status symbol, and young users are increasingly rejecting the so-called kiddie phones.

This essentially means that companies need to find another way to deal with the demands of the emerging tween segment, because even young children want to be treated as adults. This bears a certain danger, though, because with more sophisticated devices children will also be more susceptible to fraudsters and dubious marketers.

Tags | KidzEyes, Mobile, New Research, statistics, tween, youth