Why The Increase in QR Code Intrest

QR Report for facebook.com/WalzIdeation

In response to the question,
“How much interaction with QR Codes have you had?”

Thanks for your input.  These numbers confirm what I’ve been reading.

The more I read about this the more interesting it gets.  I found so many good ideas that anyone can use.  Keep in mind QR Codes are not just for business; groups, clubs and individuals will be using these to quickly interact with others.

Although most of those who contributed to this poll have not had much interaction with QR codes, it seems everyone is at least familiar with them.  I would go as far as estimating that of the 28% who know about QR Codes and have used them, only a fraction would have responded the same way a year ago.  Percentages of responders may change as this is still an active poll.

So what’s changed?

Well… technology to put it simply!  These codes have been around since 1994 when Denso Wave created them in Japan.  It’s only in the last few years that their use and popularity has increased globally.  That’s mainly due to the fact that our cell phones are getting smarter and demand for smartphones continues rise.

[A smartphone is a mobile phone that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone.  A smartphone allows the user to run and preemptively multitask applications. Mostly known for combining the functions of a camera phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA). (source: Wikipedia)]

It is predicted there will be 80 million new smartphone users in 2011 added to the already existing 60 million consumers who already own one. (Nielsen, 2010).  The number of smartphone users worldwide is predicted to exceed 1 billion by 2014 (Parks Associates, 2010).

Keep reading!  These are significant global numbers and I want to show you what it means for you.

One report states that the penetration of Mobile Cellular subscriptions in The Americas is estimated at 94.1% (880 Mill) (Source: mobithinking.com Global mobile statistics 2011).  Another report states that as of Q3 of 2010, 28% of U.S. mobile subscribers now have smartphones (Nielsen, 2010).  Thus for every 100,000 in population you will have approximately 94,100 mobile subscribers.  Of that number you will have 26,348 who own a smartphone.  However, the same group shows U.S. smartphone penetration overtaking feature phones by 2011 Q3 (source).  Thats July – Sept. of this year.  By the time the next Christmas season is upon us over 50% of mobile users may be accessing the internet, accessing social networks, searching for products and shopping on their smartphones.

We started this conversation talking about QR Codes and now we are talking about smartphones.  You may think I’ve gone off point here but I haven’t.  Until we understand the significant growth in this market we can’t grasp the need to incorporate QR codes or anything else that speaks to that growing customer base using smartphones.

For those who are interested in learning more I’m attaching several links that you should find helpful.

Graphic on the QR Invasion
5 Unique Uses for QR Codes – Mashable
13 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes for Marketing – Fast Company
Top 14 Things Marketers Need to Know About QR Codes – A must read if you intend to implement any of the above uses.

If you have additional questions or comments please post them below.  I’d be happy to help in any way.

You can reach me at:
Douglas Walz
doug@walzid.com (Please include “QR Code Info” in the subject line)

OR   (you know what to do)

The following 2D barcode reader apps work on the majority of phones/handsets.

Reader App              Download from cell phone

Red Laser                 redlaser.com
BeeTagg                    get.beetagg.com
AT&T Code
Scanner                     scan.mobi
ScanLife                    getscanlife.com
Microsoft Tag          gettag.mobi

RedLaser and AT&T Code Scanner also have geolocation features for local price comparison shopping.

BTW – Let’s be honest.  Since this is all based on technology it could be outdated just as fast as it is being adopted.  In fact there are other technologies that I and others have been working on for the past year that are in the ballpark of some of these new ways of communicating with our customer base.  That doesn’t mean we pull back on this just because something else is just around the corner.  The lessons we learn from using QR Codes and SMS marketing will only help us implement that next-new-thing just around the corner.

Thanks for your time.

– Doug