3 UK is happy with how mobile social networking INQ has performed

INQ is a branch of the 3 network that is devoted to creating devices specifically for mobile social networking. Last year it released the INQ1, a Facebook oriented device, and an upcoming Twitter phone was announced very recently. Following up the Twitter news, 3 UK has announced that the first INQ phone has performed beyond its expectations.

The INQ1 was created to encourage use not only of Facebook, but also other internet-based forms of communication like email and IM. The figures released from 3 UK suggest that INQ has been successful in this aim:
- around 700,000 handsets from INQ have been sold since it launched in November 2007. This includes INQ1 devices and the earlier Skypephone
- 65% of owners use Facebook almost daily
- 19% of INQ owners regularly use Skype.

Via Telecoms

From the report:

“The iPhone and Blackberry are great devices, but it is important to remember that smartphones only make up 12 per cent of the market [according to Gartner]. We see a huge opportunity to provide an internet and social networking experience on a handset that costs operators a fraction of what they’re paying for higher end phones,” said Frank Meehan, CEO of INQ Mobile.

What we think?

3 believes, and I agree with them, that these figures show that more advanced forms of communication like mobile email and IM can be made popular on lower-end phones - instead of just traditional SMS. A big part of the success of this device comes from it’s generous pricing plan. Whether you’re on contract or pre-pay you get unlimited data, and that it is the most important part of making more complex, data-heavy communications popular