‘Cutting edge’ too sharp for average consumers

Tired of new DVD players with cutting-edge features you’ll probably never use in your lifetime? You are definitely not alone. Korea’s tech giants constantly struggle to roll out even more cutting-edge gadgets with never-heard-of features and brand-new functions people can only understand by leafing through dictionary-thick instruction manuals.
But it is uncertain whether most consumers like it. A growing number prefer simple, tutorial-free gadgets with minimal features, LG Economic Research Institute said yesterday.
According to a report by the private think tank, many of today’s consumers, dubbed “slow adopters” as opposed to “early adopters,” prefer easy-to-use gadgets and other online services to those with countless new functions.
“Slow adopters, as opposed to early adopters, embrace new technologies relatively slowly,” Son Min-sun, a researcher at the think tank, said in a report yesterday. “Simple products in line with such consumers’ tastes are increasingly dominating the market.”
For instance, the most popular downloadable games for mobile phones are those with repetitive patterns and simple, well-known rules, such as Tetris, traditional Korean card games, or games where rocks are thrown at targets.
“Females, office workers and middle-aged people are increasingly dominating the consumer market,” Son said. “Yet such consumers have no patience for services and gadgets that require heavy concentration and long learning durations.”
Son said low birthrates and an increasingly aging society will further increase consumers who are less influenced by industry buzz and brand-new technologies.
“Consumers are increasingly becoming busy and stressed out, so service and gadget providers should not ask them for too much time and energy,” she said.

By Jung Ha-won Staff Writer [hawon@joongang.co.kr]