2G network withdrawal has 200 million potential users, elderly mobile phones have pain points and no market

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I have tried

According to statistics from the National Working Committee on Aging, there are about 250 million elderly people over the age of 60 in my country, accounting for more than 17% of the total population. According to the data, the consumer market for the elderly is huge. Some manufacturers have also entered the smartphone market, but all ended in failure.

Mobile phone manufacturers involved in the elderly phone market include Philips, Nokia, ZTE, Coolpad, Newman, Tianyu, etc. After exploring products on e-commerce platforms, they found that most of the smartphones for the elderly are low-priced, with single design and functions and no special features. The most common design features are loud volume, large fonts, and long battery life.

The manufacturers' positioning is based on the consumption psychology of elderly users. Most of the elderly are stingy and unwilling to pay high prices for mobile phones. The quality of the product is determined by the selling price. Low prices mean that advanced technologies and applications cannot be added, resulting in poor application experience for such mobile phones and difficulty in leaving a good reputation. Over time, fewer people will buy them and the product line will not be able to survive.

Use children to replace mobile phones

Another reason why there is no market for senior citizen phones is that most of the elderly in our country have a tradition of diligence and thrift. They leave all the useful and delicious things to their children, and save as much as possible on consumption. Most of their mobile phones are old ones replaced by their children, and their televisions are also old models replaced by their children.

The starting point of manufacturers is product sales and platform GMV, and profit is the first goal. Many smart brands are not willing to develop smart phones for the elderly because they can see the potential consumption power of the market. When a large amount of funds and manpower are invested in special research and development, the elderly will not be willing to consume, resulting in unsatisfactory market sales and losses. It is more practical to steadily develop student and business models.

2G network withdrawal and 4G popularization

The three major operators, China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom, have successively issued announcements on 2G network withdrawal. China Unicom started the network withdrawal work in some cities on January 31, 2019; Fuzhou Mobile cancelled the 2G base station on March 11, 2019, and China Telecom gradually shut down 2G and 3G services on June 1, 2020. At present, the three major operators have started the 2G network withdrawal work. Users who still use 2G devices will be affected and must upgrade to 4G and 5G in one step.

After the comprehensive upgrade of 4G and 5G networks, whether they can use the devices smoothly will also become a big problem.

The application is complex and not friendly to the elderly

With the support of 4G network, smartphones can be used to read news, listen to music, play games, learn courses, and contact family and friends in time. However, smartphones with many functions are very difficult to use for elderly people who have no experience in electronic technology.

Elderly people do not know how to download apps and what functions each app has. Many of them have their smartphone apps installed in advance by their children. However, they are most concerned about how to use key apps, such as shopping and payment, safely. Improper operation may lead to hackers stealing money from bank cards, and they may also be targeted by online fraudsters, dragging down their children and family members.

Smartphones for the elderly

From the application perspective, the elderly need smartphones to communicate with their families, shop, pay for daily necessities, and travel. Others may have needs for games, music, entertainment, etc., which can be customized individually.

AI voice assistant is indispensable

Text is a window for communication. Smartphones receive instructions through text input by users and display the content results expected by users. This action requires the completion of input methods. For the elderly, factors such as poor eyesight, inability to use pinyin, and inaccurate handwriting input will affect the user experience.

If AI voice can be added, it will be much more convenient for the elderly to use, and efficient application scenarios will be easier and more comfortable. The required content is told to the APP application through voice. For example, WeChat, which we cannot do without, chats with family members through voice, which is convenient and fast. It has become a standard APP in Chinese mobile phones; and there are e-commerce shopping apps such as Tmall, JD.com, and Pinduoduo. The AI ​​intelligent voice function allows elderly users to quickly search for the items they want to buy and compare multiple products.

Therefore, if you want to win the elderly user group, the AI ​​voice function of the APP application software is essential.

Traffic control prevents "one house being wiped out by traffic overnight"

As early as 2014, many 4G users began to appear, and the mobile data traffic generated by watching videos consumed thousands of yuan overnight. Nowadays, many elderly people use Douyin and Kuaishou online to watch fresh and interesting news and live broadcasts of various products. After being exposed to these applications, the elderly will become dependent on these applications. When they are not alone, most of them use these applications, which naturally increases the use of data traffic.

However, smartphones currently do not automatically indicate that the data usage limit has been exceeded, which means that elderly users will spend a lot of money without realizing it. At the beginning of each month, they would wonder why the phone bill was so high last month!

For elderly users, a traffic control software is essential. It can provide periodic reminders of data traffic usage, control additional unnecessary costs, and keep communication costs within a reasonable range.

Software installation requires administrator authorization

Currently, there are no special smartphones for the elderly. Some commonly used apps contain many advertisements, guiding users to purchase or download and install third-party software. Some elderly people and even students will install them directly, posing a great risk to users' personal privacy and payment accounts.

It is not very objective to say that these downloaded applications are illegal, after all, the applications developed by the manufacturers are legitimate and legal. Just like some health products for the elderly, they are not harmful to health but they can attract the elderly to buy them. Two eggs and a bag of salt attract them, and after a brainwashing, they spend thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Therefore, an application management software is very important for the elderly’s smartphones. Children or family members are responsible for management and control, and other software cannot be installed without authorization.

Conclusion

To put it simply, the elderly smartphones only need to be equipped with chat software: WeChat, shopping software: Tmall, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Suning and other e-commerce apps, plus traffic monitoring and automatic software installation restriction functions. However, such a system is a customized system, and its R&D cost is the same as developing a new system. The R&D cost generated cannot be recovered in hardware sales, which is also the main reason why no manufacturer is willing to make elderly smartphones.