Manufacturers Boost 2.4GHz, 5.8GHz Advertising

By Greg Scoblete On Dec 8 2003 - 8:00am

The total retail print advertising by phone manufacturers rose 48 percent through the third quarter of 2003, compared with the same time in 2002, even as the advertised prices of the phones continued their downward march, according to Beyen International Market Research.

In its survey of ads in more than 90 U.S. newspapers and catalogs through the third quarter of 2003, Beyen found that the top-five cordless phone brands continued to dominate placement, accounting for roughly 78 percent of all cordless phone advertising in 2003. This is up 1 percent from last year and includes cordless phones in the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequencies, not 900MHz.

Cordless phones in the 2.4GHz frequency continued to hold the lion's share of the advertising placement, garnering 84 percent in 2003, down 13 percent from 97 percent in 2002, thanks to the introduction of 5.8GHz phones.

Pricing: There was a steep drop-off in the advertised price of 2.4GHz phones from 2002, as 5.8GHz took the premium pricing slots previously occupied by 2.4GHz digital phones. From an average price of about $98 in 2002, the average advertised price of 2.4GHz phones dropped 20 percent to $78 in 2003. Beyen attributed much of this to the growth of lower cost 2.4GHz analog phones.

As early as the first quarter of 2003, the averaged advertised price of 2.4GHz phones was $90; but by the second quarter it was down to $76; and in the third, down still further, at $71.

The 5.8GHz phone segment was also subjected to price erosion. From an average advertised price of $193.92 in 2002, 5.8GHz phones fell 9 percent to $175.68 through the third quarter of 2003.

Brands: Like last year, Panasonic continued to hold the top position as ad share leader in 2003 with 23 percent of all ads, though it dropped 3 percent from its 2002 position.

VTech, Uniden, AT&T and relative newcomer Motorola increased their share of advertising frequency through 2003. The biggest gains were made by VTech and Uniden, both gaining 4 percent in ad frequency share, to account for 18 percent and 13 percent of all cordless ads, respectively.

AT&T and Motorola each gained 3 percent to account for 12 percent and 6 percent of all cordless ads in 2003, respectively.

On the negative side of the ledger, Thomson-made General Electric-brand phones dropped 6 percent in ad frequency, from 18 percent in 2002 to 12 percent through the third quarter of 2003. Siemens lost 5 percent of the ad share, from 8 percent in 2002 to 2 percent in 2003.

5.8GHz: The newest frequency still occupies a niche in the total cordless advertising universe, accounting for 16 percent of the ads, up 13 percent from 2002 when it accounted for a mere 3 percent. Leading the push has been Uniden, which, along with VTech (under its own brand and its AT&T brand), was first to market with 5.8GHz phones in the fourth quarter of 2002.

Panasonic was later to market, launching its 5.8GHz line in the second quarter of 2003. According to Beyen, Panasonic began to heavily promote its 5.8GHz phones in the third quarter of this year, when it grabbed 24 percent ad share.

Through the third quarter of this year, Uniden did the most advertising in 5.8GHz, accounting for 32 percent of all ads, followed by AT&T and VTech phones with 31 percent and 28 percent, respectively.