Diffusion of Mobile Handset Features in Finland

Abstract

Mobile handsets have evolved into advanced devices with a rich variety of hardware and software features. These features enable the use of completely new mobile services that complement and substitute the traditional voice calling and text messaging services. Therefore, instead of the diffusion of mobile handsets, the diffusion of new mobile handset features has become an increasingly important research topic. In this paper, the diffusion patterns of mobile handset features were compared quantitatively based on an extensive and unique dataset on mobile handsets collected from Finland. Mobile handset features are new technologies that diffuse within the existing population of mobile handsets. A first attempt to quantitatively model such “nested diffusion” was made. Moreover, handset features form clusters of technologies with interdependent diffusion patterns. The decisions to bundle features together are made by handset manufacturers. Therefore, the diffusion of handset features was found to be supply-driven.