In an event in Seattle, WA on Friday, HTC manager of product strategy, Eric Lin, described some of the thought process behind why manufacturers use certain colors for handsets.
When asked why most handsets are available today in either black or white, Mr. Lin detailed HTC’s ideas on the topic. He stated “white really helps open up smartphones to women” and mentioned that many consumers associate colored phones with kids. He continued to say that handsets in purple and cyan “are two colors that do very well with both sexes.” Examples of this are HTC’s Rhyme which is purple and Nokia’s Lumia 800 and 900 Windows Phones which are available in Cyan. Lin suspects that today’s “sneaker culture” is contributing to the popularity of purple and cyan handsets.
Lin also mentioned that certain colors are commonly avoided due to perceived association with specific Carriers. Verizon is typically associated with the color red and Sprint the color yellow. Consequently, carriers are more reluctant to manufacture models in those particular colors.
Personally, the color of my phone doesn’t matter to me as there are more than enough cases available to purchase allowing me to change the appearance of my phone.
Tell us your thoughts. Do you care what color your phone is? Do you have a reason why you select a particular color?
Source: MobileBurn
This is interesting. I personally think that colour doesn’t affect my decision very much when choosing a phone, as long as it is a clean and professional looking colour; not anything like neon pink. I can see why the purple Rhyme would appeal to women and younger people.
James,
I agree with you on the professional looking color. I want my phone to draw attention because of it’s features, not it’s color. I don’t want to hear: “Oh, that’s the guy with the funky-colored phone.”
Color doesn’t affect my decisions too much, however I do avoid pink phones. I also lean towards a good looking phone with suitable coloring as opposed to one that looks nasty :l