Manufacturer Bullitt is focusing more on the B2B channel as it looks to maintain its leading position in the rugged phone space.
This comes after the company conducted a survey on 497 European businesses in partnership with global analyst firm CCS Insight. The survey found that 69 per cent of B2B customers felt phones “damage too easily”, leading to more outlay replacing devices.
Almost all firms (99 per cent) have had to deal with damaged phones. Broken displays are the most common issue, affecting 62 per cent, followed by damage to the body (47 per cent), and caused by water (44 per cent), dust and sand, and extreme heat and cold (12 per cent).
Bullitt applications and market intelligence director Tim Shepherd said: “The focus is now more on B2B. The make-up and profile of the customer has changed significantly. It’s not just the one or two tradesmen buying a device for themselves, which was mainly through consumer channels; now we’re also selling significant volume into a range of businesses where they’re taking a fleet of devices.”
Shepherd would not disclose shipment figures or new customer deals.
He added: “The requirements are stronger for B2B and we’ve scaled the business in that direction. Now we can take a more consultative approach to what customers need.”