Educational toy maker LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. and wireless communications company Enfora are selling a mobile phone designed specifically for children. The $100 device is aimed at children ages 6 and up and allows parents to limit the telephone numbers that can dial into the phone, as well as the telephone numbers to which the phone can dial.
The companies join Firefly Mobile Inc., Wherify Wireless Inc. and others in targeting children with specially designed wireless products. Such companies argue that the market is untapped and can represent a major opportunity with busy parents wanting to keep tabs on their children. However, the companies are coming under fire from consumer groups, which last month urged Congress to investigate the growing trend.
The phone from LeapFrog and Enfora, dubbed the TicTalk, features a speakerphone and allows users to conduct walkie-talkie-style conversations. Parents can log in to LeapFrog’s TicTalk Web site and outline the numbers that the phone can call out to and the numbers that it can receive. The rugged device doesn’t have a standard 10-button keypad; it can only dial the numbers designated by parents. The gadget features educational games from LeapFrog, as well as calendar and to-do list applications.
A spokeswoman for Enfora declined to say which carrier is providing service for the GSM device. Parents will be able to buy $25 blocks of 100 prepaid minutes for the device. The gadget will be available online this month and in retail outlets starting this fall. The spokeswoman declined to say which retail outlets would sell the device.
As the wireless industry matures in the United States, a variety of players are looking to tap the far reaches of the market. And the youth segment represents a potentially major opportunity. According to Firefly, there are 20 million 8- to 12-year-olds in the United States, and only 10 percent have mobile phones. Similar research from the World Wireless Forum shows that there were 190,000 children under the ages of 10 in the United States who owned mobile phones at the end of last year, and that number is expected to double this year. For children ages 10 to 14, 5.5 million owned mobile phones last year and that number should increase by 2 million this year. The World Wireless Forum’s new report also shows that children under 10 spend 12 percent of their pocket money on mobile-related products and services. Similar research from the NPD Group backs that figure. The firm found that youth between 13 and 17 years old spent 10 percent less money during the past year on clothing, making up for that with an increase in spending on mobile phones.
Enfora and LeapFrog join a variety of companies selling wireless devices and services to children. Firefly sells a similar device through a relationship with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. The Firefly prepaid phone is aimed at children ages 8 to 12. Toy maker Hasbro said in February it is working on a phone using two-way radio technology for children ages 11 to 14. Wherify Wireless Inc. sells its Wherifone G550 device, a gadget that supports voice calls and global positioning system location functions, to parents and children. Finally, SAMSys Technologies Inc. is teaming with SafeTzone Technologies to develop a family locator system working through radio frequency identification technology. The system will be installed in venues including Steamboat Ski and Resort in Colorado and Dollywood’s Splash Country in Tennessee.
