More plans purchased on the internet.
New research from Roy Morgan shows that Australia’s 18.6 million mobile phone owners are increasingly bringing their own phone when they buy a new mobile phone plan.
Almost 90 per cent of Australians own a mobile phone. However, the proportion of Australians on post-paid mobile phone plans has dropped slightly in a year driven lower by fewer mobile phone customers choosing post-paid mobile phone plans inclusive of the cost of a new phone, CEO Michelle Levine said.
“Instead customers are choosing to bring their existing mobile phone to a new post-paid mobile phone plan or choosing a pre-paid mobile phone plan. Pre-paid mobile phone plans now represent 32.9 per cent of the market, up 2.4 per cent in two years,” she said.
“These trends are confirmed when asking people about their handsets. Now 86 per cent of mobile phone users say their current handset was a new one when they obtained it which is down from over 90 per cent in 2013. This trend indicates an increasing proportion of Australians are looking for value when signing up for a new plan rather than always insisting on a new phone. As improvements in mobile phone capability becomes more marginal this trend is likely to continue.”
There has also been a shift in the way pre-paid/ own phone consumers purchase their mobile phone plans. While a shop is still preferred for over half of these consumers, purchasing a plan online has increased significantly over the last two years.