Survey On Mobile Phones And Their Defects

Survey on Mobile Phones and their defects JAI AWATRAMANI & ALIASGAR NAVAGHARWALA MBA(Tech.), Telecom, Class of 2004-09 NMIMS University

The study result is intended to give understanding of the Indian Mobile Phone Market in terms of the defects that occur in Mobile Phones, Customer Satisfaction to complaint handling and Customer Loyalty.

Executive Summary India and the Indian Telecommunications Market •The Second fastest growing economy. •The fastest growing telecom sector of the world. Teledensity of more than 28%. •300 million mobile connections The Stretch of Mobile Phone • • • • • • • • • •

Teenager to 75 year old Urban to Rural Multimedia Rich to Plain vanilla Rs.1500 to Rs.50,000 More than 10 brands for options More than 150 options Available Everywhere Highly Marketed Prices Declining by the day Niche Players also starting to gain increasing market share

Mobile phone production growth estimation in India • CAGR of 28.3 per cent from 2006 to 2011, totalling 107 million handsets by 2010. • Revenues CAGR of 26.6 per cent from 2006 to 2011, touching US$ 13.6 billion

Executive Summary The Survey • Need for the Research • In the Month of October-November a spate of incidents among friends with regard to defects occurring with their Mobile Phones prompted us to discuss the issue • A deeper observation revealed that there are many defects and there is a decreasing level customer care by service centers to defects complaints, leading to frustrations among the user • The two researchers being from the field of telecom further generated huge curiosity to do a sample survey study and see the actual statistics prevalent. What did we measure? • The Mobile Phone Manufacturer • The Price of Mobile Phone • The Type of Defect • Rectification of Defect? • Days required for Rectification • Location of Rectification • Customer Satisfaction to Complaint handling • Satisfaction to Current working of Phone • Changeover Chance

Survey Details • Sample Size – 309 • Duration – Nov’07 – February’08 • Total Cost of phones measured – 30 lakhs

28% of Phones sold in market have manufacturing defect Proportion of Defective Phones Due to Internal Problem occuring within 1 year from the date of Purchase from the total sample

The Results Average time To get phone repaired – 16 days Average time To get phone replaced –>30 days

87, 28% Yes No

222, 72%

20% are of total respondents are not satisfied with current working of their Phone 61, 20%

38% of the people who visited authorized service center were not satisfied with the way their complaint was handled

Would you like to purchase the phone from the same company again


23, 38%

38, 62%

108, 35% Maybe No Yes

166, 54%

248, 80%

35, 11%

Mobile Phones and their Defects Research problem • A study of defects in Mobile Phones, the rectification process and its effect on Customer Loyalty.

OBJECTIVE • To study the percentage of defective phones in the market • To study the time taken for rectification. • To study customer satisfaction towards rectification process and Customer loyalty towards the handset manufactures.

VARIABLE CLASSIFICATION • Dependent Variable: Defects • Intermediate Variable: Rectification Process • Independent Variable: Customer Satisfaction & Customer Loyalty

Operational Definitions • Defect in Phone: - Malfunctioning of the Handset in certain identified areas • Multiple occurrence of Defect: - Defect occurring more than once (whether same or a different defect) in the phone lifetime. • Software • Keypad • Hearing • Type of Defect: • Headphones/ • Display • External Body Attachments • Joystick

• •

Speakers Network

• Cause of defect: - Whether the defect is within the phone or cause by some mistake from the user • Rectification of Defect: - A defect can either be rectified or replaced.

Operational Definitions • Place of Rectification: - Defective phones are rectified at any Provate Shop or Authorized Service Center • Time required for rectification: - No. of Days • Satisfaction for complaint handling: - Are the customer satisfied or unsatisfied with the way their complaints are handled • Customer Satisfaction for current working of Phone: - Regardless of defect or no defects • Customer Loyalty occurring from various factors: - How many users would like to purchase from the same manufacturer again.

HYPOTHESIS Hypothesis framed based on possible manufacturing standards and service levels timing given to solving customer complaints

Hypothesis 1. 99% phones do not have manufacturing defect 2. 90% is the service level of complaints. 90% of all phones need repairing should be repaired within 2 days. 3. 99% of the people will always be loyal to manufacturer of the current handset they are using

Scope of the Research • Majorly College going students • Convenience method of random sampling was adopted

Research Tools • Checklist with 4 parts • Part 1: Customer Demographics • Part2:Defect occurrence in Mobile & Defect detailing • Part3:Customer Satisfaction to the way the Complaint was handled • Part4: Satisfaction towards the current working conditions of phone and loyalty towards company.

Sampling Design – How was the sampling done The population consists of every college student owning a Mobile Phone. Colleges are chosen because in Mumbai, colleges have students coming from every part of Mumbai. The population estimation of this sample covers all age groups as fundamentally the different mobile phones used in al age groups remains the same.

Information Flow Chart

Objective 1 To find out the percentage of defective mobile phones circulating in the market, the type of defect, cause of defect and occurrence of defect. •

Hypothesis 1: - 99% phones do not have manufacturing defect

•

Question 1: How many mobile handsets in the market are defective? No

•

Question 2: Cause of defect? User Mistake or Internal Problem? – Total defect - 129

Yes 26, 20%

Your Mistake Internal Problem of the Phone

129, 42%

180, 58% 103, 80%

Objective 1 To find out the percentage of defective mobile phones circulating in the market, the type of defect, cause of defect and occurrence of defect. •

• Question 4: Out of the total

Question 3: When did the defect occur from the date of purchase?

sample how many were defective due to internal problem of the phone within the first year from the date of purchase of the phone?

120 100 100 84 80

Proportion of Defective Phones Due to Internal Problem occuring within 1 year from the date of Purchase from the total sample

71

87, 28%

60

Yes

47

No

40 22 20 222, 72%

0 1) Within 1 months

2) Within 3 months

Percentage Cumulative Percentage

3) Within 6 4) Within 12 months months

5) More than 1 yr

FINDINGS OF OBJECTIVE 1 • 42% phones sampled are defective • 28% are visibly due to internal problem of the phone as the defect has occurred within 1 year from the date of purchase and it is due to internal problem. • 71% of the defects take place with 6 months of purchase

TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS 1 • Null Hypothesis: - 99% phones do not have manufacturing defect • The data shows that 28% of the Mobile Phones have inherent manufacturing defect when they are sold • Hence

• Null Hypothesis is “Rejected”

Objective 2: To find out where did the customer rectify his handset and in how many days •

Hypothesis 2: - 90% is the service level of complaints. 90% of all phones need repairing should be repaired within 2 days.

•

Question 6: What was the number of phones that were repaired replaced or were not rectified by the user? Not Rectified Repaired Replacement

12, 9%

•

Question 7: Of the phones which were repaired/replaced where the user did got it repaired from i.e. Authorized Service Centre or Private Shop? Authorized Service Centre Private Shop

18, 14%

50, 45% 61, 55%

99, 77%

Objective 2: To find out where did the customer rectify his handset and in how many days •

Question 8: Of the total number of the phones which were repaired/replaced where did the user got it repaired from i.e. Authorized Service Centre or Private Shop? Replacement Authorized Service Centre

Replacement Private Shop

3, 25%

47, 47% 52, 53%

9, 75%

Repaired Authorized Service Centre

Repaired Private Shop

Objective 2: To find out where did the customer rectify his handset and in how many days •

Question 9: How many days it took for the Authorized Service Centre and the Private Shop to get the defect rectified? Replacement (days) N

12

Average

55

Upper Limit

76

Lower Limit

33

Authorized N Average Median Mode Upper Limit Lower Limit

Repaired (days)

Repaired Private Shop 52 15 6.5 1 22 7

N

99

Average

16

Upper Limit

21

Lower Limit

10 Replacement

Authorized 47 17 5 2 25 8

N

Private Shop 9

3

Average

63

30

Upper Limit

88

103

Lower Limit

38

-42

FINDINGS OF OBJECTIVE 2 • Defects were rectified in the following manner – 45% in Private shop, 55% in ASC • Average time to get phone repaired from either an authorized service centre or private shop is 16 days and time taken to get replaced is 55 days.

TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS 2 • Null Hypothesis: - 90% is the service level of complaints. 90% of all phones need repairing should be repaired within 2 days. • The data shows that population average time taken for repairing a phone takes 7days to 22 days whereas for replacement takes 38 days to 88 days this leads us to reject the null hypothesis. This shows us the significant amount of time taken to get a defective handset sold by the manufacturer to repair or replace it.

• Null Hypothesis is “Rejected”

Objective 3 To study customer satisfaction towards rectification process and current working of phone and Customer loyalty towards the handset manufactures. •

Hypothesis 3: - 99% of the people will always be loyal to manufacturer of the current handset they are using

•

Question 10: What was the satisfaction level of the people who

visited the Authorized Service Centre/ Private Shop to get their phone rectified (replaced/repaired)? Private Shop

No Yes

23, 38% 23, 44%

29, 56%

38, 62%

Authorized Service Center (ASC)

No Yes

Objective 3 To study customer satisfaction towards rectification process and current working of phone and Customer loyalty towards the handset manufactures. •

Question 11: How many • Question 12: What is the respondents of the total sample Brand Loyalty of the users? are currently satisfied with the working of their phone? Would you like to purchase the phone from the same company again?

61, 20%

108, 35% Maybe No Yes

166, 54%

35, 11% 248, 80%

No Yes

Objective 3 To study customer satisfaction towards rectification process and current working of phone and Customer loyalty towards the handset manufactures. Question 13: What is the relationship between the performance of the phone and loyalty towards company?

• 160

Are You Satisifed with working of Your Phone = Yes, Would You Purchase from the Same company Again? - YES/NO/MayBe

140

Count

120

85, 34% Maybe No Yes

100 80

152

152, 62%

60

11, 4% 85

40

Are you satisfied with the working of your Phone now = No, Would you Purchase from the same company Again? - YES/NO/MayBe

20 24

23

14

11

14, 23%

0 Yes

No Yes

Maybe

Yes

No

23, 38%

Maybe

No

Maybe No Yes

Are you Satisfied with Working of Phone and Would You Purchase from the same company Again

24, 39%

Objective 3 To study customer satisfaction towards rectification process and current working of phone and Customer loyalty towards the handset manufactures. •

Question 14: What is the relationship between defect occurrence of phone and satisfaction with current working of the phone? Did The Phone ever had a defect = Yes Are You satsified with the working of your Phone Now -YES/NO

Did The Phone ever had a defect = No Are You satsified with the working of your Phone Now -YES/NO

61, 20%

52, 40% No Yes

No Yes

77, 60%

248, 80%

Objective 3 To study customer satisfaction towards rectification process and current working of phone and Customer loyalty towards the handset manufactures. •

Question 14: What is the percentage of respondents who have faced a defect within 1 year from the date of purchase and the loyalty towards the company to buy from the same manufacturer? Defect occured within the warranty period, and loyalty towards brand

45, 41%

46, 42% Maybe No Yes 18, 17%

Objective 3 To study customer satisfaction towards rectification process and current working of phone and Customer loyalty towards the handset manufactures. •

Question 14: To find the relationship between a defective piece and its effect on customer loyalty

FINDINGS OF OBJECTIVE 3 • Of the entire sample, 54% would like to buy the phone from the same company again, while 11% would not and 35% are unsure. •When a phone does not has a defect 62% would like to buy the phone from the same company again, while when the phone has a defect only 43% would like to buy the phone from the same Loyalty company again. Defect YES NO MAYBE Defective Phone No defects

43 62

16 8

41 30

• Customers having a defective handset: - 38% were unsatisfied with complaint handling. • Phone Rectified to a Private Shop Centre, “44%” were not satisfied with the way their complaint was Handled.

TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS 3 • Null Hypothesis: - 99% of the people will always be loyal to manufacturer of the current handset they are using • The above data shows us 11% of the population would not like to buy the phone from the same company again, whereas 35% is unsure. This leads us to reject the null hypothesis. Our analysis also shows us the relationship between defective handsets and loyalty. If defects were to be zeroed customer loyalty would increase to 62% directly affecting the cost of marketing. gives us a clear results whether to accept or reject the null hypothesis, while point 2 gives us ways to improve loyalty by having defect free handsets.

• Null Hypothesis is “Rejected”

Recommendations • Lower Defects increase loyalty • Lower customer dissatisfaction towards complaints handling increase loyalty • Regulator should set quality benchmarks • The Price paid should be worth the service.

Following was the share of various phones surveyed • • • • • • •

Nokia – 213 Sony Ericsson – 47 Motorola – 24 Samsung – 11 LG – 7 O2 – 3 Others- 4

• Total - 309 samples. • Based on purely random sampling

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