Reality Check: Forget two front teeth. What I want for the holidays is my mobile data

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.
The holiday season is upon us, and for carriers and device makers, things are looking good. Google’s Android is on the streets, application sales continue apace and the upcoming holiday rush is looking like it will be just that – a rush. Research firm Strategy Analytics in early November predicted a 3% increase in global handset shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009, forecasting a strong holiday season for device makers and carriers alike.
Yet amidst all this holiday hullabaloo as customers race to purchase new devices to gift, re-gift or just as a “from-me-to-me,” carriers and retailers should take heed of a strong warning – when selling and upgrading new devices this season, you’d better be prepared to back up and protect customers’ data. Because while unwrapping and getting to know your way around a shiny new phone may seem like the ideal way to spend the season, losing your data in the process could end up being the proverbial lump of coal at the bottom of the stocking.
The lump of coal
The issue of data loss continues to be a growing concern for carriers and handset makers, with companies facing the potential for PR disaster in the event of the widespread loss of data (as was seen recently). Consumers continue to rely on their handsets to store an ever-increasing amount of personal and work data, including contact lists, photos, music and ringtones and texts. In fact, mobile devices are slowly but surely taking on the same functionality as the PC. Some of this information is replaceable, but much of it is not. And with the mobile phone’s role in daily life becoming more significant every day, the idea of losing so much irreplaceable data could prove catastrophic.
Widespread data loss has dominated news headlines in recent months, extending to the individual consumer level as well as the carriers. We recently conducted a poll of wireless carriers and retailers that brought some interesting findings to light in this regard. Of those surveyed, 33% indicated that their customers were increasingly concerned about the potential for data loss at the point of sale, while perhaps more glaringly, 34% said that their company was not technically prepared to restore customers’ device-driven data in the event of such a loss.
What’s even more telling is the impact mobile backup and transfer can have on handset sales. Forty-two percent of the respondents we polled relayed that offering backup services at point-of-sale can make or break a sale. This means that companies unequipped to transfer consumers’ data during the course of a purchase are risking the loss of a sale.
This may not, at first, seem surprising. Who in their right mind would choose to purchase a new phone if the seller couldn’t transfer their data from their old handset? Yet there are significant implications in these findings that cannot and should not be ignored, especially as the number of potential phone buyers increases over the next several weeks, and especially as it relates to the concern for data loss at point of sale.
Back up data and make it a happy holiday
The need to safely and securely back up device-driven data is always great, and even more so in the wake of major headlines regarding widespread data loss. But even more vital to consider is the need to back up data at the point of sale or upgrade, never more critical than it will be in the holiday rush. Because if the forecasts for strong holiday handset sales are to be believed, and carriers and retailers can ensure that data is safe and secure as consumers purchase and upgrade their phones, then it will indeed be a very happy holiday season for all.