No better time than 3GSM to launch a report about user frustration with mobile phones. (After a week of perusing the plethora of new devices – and gasping at all the whiz-bang things they claim to do - I can well understand why users are increasingly overwhelmed the advanced features on their phones.) A new study by the CMO Council’s Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience – which surveyed some 15,000 consumers in 37 countries – has found that users suffer from “function fatigue” and are challenged by a growing list of functions they neither use nor understand.

To make matters worse, users are also disappointed by how mobile phones are demonstrated and sold. Respondents generally gave low marks to retailers and operators, complaining they lacked knowledge of the products they sell. They also offer inadequate service at point-of-sale. Against this backdrop, there is a real opportunity for handset makers and operators to differentiate themselves by improving the overall retail experience. “Clearly, wireless operators, device manufacturers and sales channels need to be much closely aligned and integrated in creating a simpler, more satisfying and predictable user experience,” Dave Murray, director of the CMO Council’s FAME group, said in a statement. (FAME is a strategic interest group of top mobile marketers and associations.)

Given the opportunity to reengineer their own devices, mobile users would first upgrade memory and storage and reduce the form factor; then improve design and styling, and make the device simpler and easier to use; and lastly, improve voice quality, the report found.

Among other key findings:

* Internet destinations are now more popular than friends and family as the most important source for researching and selecting devices
* Developing countries are producing a new generation of mobile technology power users
* Users, particularly in developing countries, are willing to pay for a wide range of mobile content and service offerings
* Cost of service along with poor battery life tops the global Irritation Index
* Americans and Western Europeans are most bothered by other user’s loud mobile conversations
* Paranoia of phone and data loss/theft is a key user concern – followed by disconnects and drop-offs

Press release