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The opportunity for the tween wireless market is significant: of the 26 million tweens in 2009, iGillottResearch forecasts that 4 million will be using their own phones. But there are significant differences in usage by age, in the type of devices these young users want to carry and their reasons for wanting a handset. Their parents also have strong views on when is the right time for a child to have their own phone, suitable features and services and the type of device.

"This study shows there are significant opportunities with the tween segment but that there are actually clearly defined sub-segments in this market," says Iain Gillott, founder and president of iGillottResearch, Inc. "For example, older tweens prefer different types of devices, want different services, and will use their handsets in different ways. Parents of different ages and education levels also have preferences for what their children will do."

There are particular concerns for the cellular handset OEMs - the study clearly showed that the handset OEMs also need to leverage the fact that the parents currently use their devices. Many parents in the study did not know which brand they would buy for their child, even though they knew which handset brand they used themselves.

iGillottResearch's Tween Market Opportunity Study, 2005 was conducted in June and July 2005, with an extensive survey of tween parents in the U.S., together with industry research on MVNOs, carriers and vendors. The study identified the current barriers preventing the adoption and use of wireless services by tweens, the potential of the tween market for services, revenues and devices, specific device and service requirements for tweens, distribution channels and brands for tween devices and services, and critical success factors for the tween sub-segment of the wireless market.