Nearly half of all mobile phone users ditch their handsets after just one year, placing thousands of valuable files at risk, according to Kingston Digital Europe Ltd, a subsidiary of Kingston Technology Corporation, the independent world leader in memory products. A study carried out by the memory product manufacturer found that 43% of mobile phone users trade in their handsets every 12 to 18 months, with a further 12 per cent revealing that they upgrade after just six months. This ‘upgrade crunch' is placing increased importance on expansion memory, which can offer a simple transition between old and new phones. Over a third of respondents revealed that they already use memory cards, but Kingston Technology is warning that this number must rise if prized data is to be kept safe. Furthermore, with convergence accelerating, many phones now offer high quality cameras, as well as MP3 and video download capabilities. As such, expansion memory is more relevant than ever, allowing mobile phone users to back up files simply and reliably. Key findings uncovered by the research include: l 61.4% of mobile phone users do not back up data? l 41.9% have been forced to delete photos, music and other media l 67.2% use mobile phones to take pictures? l 33.9% use mobiles to store and listen to music Antoine Harb, Business Development Manager at Kingston said: “Mobile and smart phone users in the region consider their devices as an extension of themselves, and store a lot of private and sometimes sensitive information on these devices. With new mobile phones being launched almost every month, a large part of these consumers tend to upgrade or change their handsets quite often to meet their requirements, or for better features.” “With so many phones being frequently swapped for the latest models, it's easy to leave photos, music, contacts and other data stranded on retired handsets. This situation is made even more pressing as the latest phones demand even greater storage capacity for the high quality features they now offer. The simplest and most effective way to transfer data to a new phone, and ensure that it has sufficient memory to take full advantage of all the features, is to use expansion memory. Flash-based storage really is the only way to sidestep the ‘upgrade crunch'.” To eradicate any potential headaches caused by the ‘upgrade crunch', it's important to select a card with adequate capacity, and Kingston Technology can cater for all needs thanks to its vast range of expansion memory products. To simplify the exchange of data between mobile devices, Kingston Technology provides the MobileLite Reader, a compact and portable memory card reader.
