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Research and Markets has announced the addition of ‘Wi-Fi for Voice: Consumer Research Around Wi-Fi Phones’ to its offering. Could a Wi-Fi-only phone ever replace your cellular phone? NO or MAYBE was the lukewarm response from survey respondents that participated in a Research and Markets Web survey around Wi-Fi phones and communication devices.

Although the majority of respondents expressed at least an overall lukewarm interest in Wi-Fi-only phones, nearly25% expressed absolutely no interest. Respondents cited Wi-Fi's limited range and possible quality-of-service (QoS) issues as major obstacles to Wi-Fi's use as a voice communication technology, over cellular. Also, survey results indicated that current pricing for Wi-Fi-only phones is significantly higher than what respondents are willing to pay for the devices.

The majority of respondents had never heard of the Sony mylo, a pioneering personal communication device that supports Wi-Fi and VoIP. Results from oTAP survey around Wi-Fi Phones reinforce the sluggishness of the Wi-Fi-only phone market.

Although Wi-Fi-only phones have been out on the market since 2000--starting in the business segment and moving to the consumer space--this market has never managed to ramp up or attract much consumer interest.

Overall survey results, however, indicated that Wi-Fi is a desirable buddy technology to cellular; the majority of respondents were interested in having a Wi-Fi communication device together with their cellular phones, albeit only if the Wi-Fi phone or communicator device is cheap.