Fellow guys, I need to let you in on a little secret. When it comes to smartphones and women, I’m sorry to say, size does matter – but it’s not how you think.
We’re being constantly inundated by commercials from iPhone competitors bragging how big their screens are. One would almost think they were watching an Enzyte commercial from how much they gush over how big they are compared to the iPhone. Or that those other phones have a certain type of … umm … envy. The problem is that most people don’t care. Especially women. In fact, large phones can actually be a turn-off to women. Why? Two very simple reasons.
First, large phones are harder to transport. They don’t fit as easily in pockets, they are more cumbersome on hip clips, and they don’t fit as well in purses. But more importantly, women simply have smaller hands! Big phones are harder to hold and use when you have small hands. Pay attention to the people who think big screen phones are desirable. I’m willing to bet that 1) most of those people are “techies” and 2) aside from the rare geek-chick (with large hands?), they are almost all men.
I remember one of the complaints I heard about the iPhone when it first came out was that it was too big! Yes, this complaint was primarily from women, who had gotten used to the slim flip phones of the pre-iPhone era. Now that women for the most part are used to the size of the iPhone, I’ve heard from several women that they don’t want anything larger than an iPhone. I even had a client return a Samsung Galaxy S III because using the phone hurt her hands. Granted, she says she has slight arthritis, but it just goes to show that large phones aren’t necessarily better.
Some people may be assuming that if women like smaller phones, men probably like bigger phones so it just washes out. The reality is the influence women have on the smartphone market is disproportional. To this point, I already wrote that the secret to the explosion of the iPhone and the New World of Technology is women. Because it seems that iPhone competitors are ignoring women, they continue marketing to the wrong demographic! They still market their phones like they are “built by geeks for geeks”. That may have worked in the Old World of Technology but in the New World, it is the average consumer who is calling the shots – and a huge segment of that market is women.
So my advice to the iPhone competitors is to quit bragging about the size of their junk and start paying attention to the things that most people, especially women, actually care about. Things like ease of use, reliability, and overall user experience. Because it really doesn’t matter how big it is if she won’t play with it. And you can take that to the bank.