MOBILE PHONES
Touch And Key
The tussle between qwerty and touchscreen phones is on
SUNNY SEN
20 Jun 2009
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Leading The Way: Although Nokia too has
entered the touchscreen zone, its qwerty
smartphones such as E75 are very popular
(Bloomberg) |
It was more than just the proverbial storm in a teacup. Last October, Research In Motion (RIM), the Ontario, Canada-based maker of BlackBerry phones, launched Blackberry Storm. It was indeed an extraordinary launch, as it marked the qwerty keypad-based smartphone major’s first foray into the world of touchscreen smartphones. Apart from signalling the company’s intentions to take on the iconic Apple iPhone, it also sort of confirmed another bigger trend — the increasing traction of touchscreen interface in the world of business phones. Especially because RIM had asserted in May 2008, when it launched BlackBerry Bold (a qwerty phone), that qwerty was the way forward.
Worldwide, smartphone sales (both qwerty and touchscreen) have been immune to the otherwise slack sales of mobile phones. According to research firm Gartner, global sales of mobile phones rose 6 per cent over 2007 to touch 1.22 billion units in 2008, but smartphone sales grew more than twice as much — 13.9 per cent over 2007 to touch 139.3 million units. Gartner dosen’t have a breakup of smartphone sales on the basis of qwerty and touchscreen, either globally or in India. Even IDC India, which tracks consumer durable sales, has no data on sales of touchscreen smartphones.
Having said that, it is widely acknowledged that qwerty phones dominate the current business phone landscape, with touchscreen devices now beginning to play catch-up. “Qwerty phones appeal to business executives, as they empower them to stay connected through emails, internet and similar business features even while travelling,” says Vineet Taneja, marketing director of Nokia India. Touchscreen phones are also seen as ‘cool’, in fact, too cool to be serious and, therefore, not apt for staid businessmen. But recent moves by RIM and Nokia (also a maker of qwerty phones) underline the seriousness of the touchscreen threat.
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Stylus Touch: LG is betting big on
touchscreen and its KP500 has done well |
Qwerty Or Touchscreen?
Why qwerty is still preferred by most business users is not hard to decipher. First, the feel of keys is familiar — the same QWERTY composition as in typewriters, PCs and laptops — without the stylus. Second, when you press a key, you get the most elementary reaction, physical confirmation or ‘tactile feedback’ of having succeeded in giving an input. There are other reasons, too. Some senior executives BW spoke to in this regard voted for qwerty phones over touchscreen phones. Here are the soundbytes:
Rajiv Arora, partner-consulting, IBM: “I use a BlackBerry qwerty that is much faster than a touchscreen when it comes to writing emails.”
Arun Gupta, group chief technology officer, Shoppers Stop: “I can type 40-50 words per minute on my BlackBerry, which is not possible on a touchscreen.”
Dhiren Savla, chief information officer, Kuoni Travel: “From a business point of view, both qwerty and touch are good as on the high end both have almost similar applications. But to write mails and navigate, qwerty suits (me) better.”
Frenny Bawa, vice-president of RIM India: “The qwerty has security, reliability and scalability, and the keypad is the success parameter for us. It has a unique trackball navigation system, enabling instant messaging, email and multimedia functions.”
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