http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/3867.html
Infosync has information from a Jupiter Research report that Americans aren't too keen on spending extra money on smartphones. What matters most to Americans is cost (nothing is better than free) and size (bigger is not better). The population is not willing to pay extra, or suffer a larger handset for advanced features like digital cameras or PDA functionality. The report then jumps to the conclusion that carriers should not bother to carry any sort of converged devices (aka smartphones) and just carry small, free BlueTooth enabled handsets.
Instead of jumping to this "dump the smartphones" conclusion, I would like to bring up a study from Strand Consult done back when more advanced phones were starting to hit Europe. First they studied buying habits, but before jumping to conclusions, they studied selling habits too. They learned that most carrier-store employees didn't know enough to sell the advantages of smarter phones. They discovered that once customers knew what they could do with smarter phones, many of them were willing to pay more for those capabilities. Would Americans be just as likely to consider a smartphone if they were properly told what they could do?
I'd bet not as likely as Europeans as here we are spoiled by cheaper computers and cheaper internet access. We also lead a more sedentary lifestyle, and data on the go is not as convincing when on the go is just between work and home. However I do believe that informed sales people could significantly increase the chances that customers would be interested in smartphones. It works for Apple, it works for most PDA manufacturers. Don't you think it would work for phones as well?