Smartphones and appliances

PHONE-crazy Australians are behind a huge leap in numbers of smartphones like Apple's iPhone being sold.

More than $500 million was spent on the gadgets in the three months to the end of June — a 92 per cent increase on the same time last year.

The smartphone boom has come at the expense of traditional mobile phones, with their sales tumbling almost 50 per cent to $200 million, the latest GfK TEMAX consumer electronics survey says.

However, the statistics reveal a general fall in consumer confidence, with overall sales down 5.2 per cent.

GfK spokeswoman Gwenno Hopkin said consumers' passion for social networking and surfing the net on the move was helping to drive the smartphone explosion.

"Smartphones are becoming standard now and people are looking for that kind of functionality in the phones on offer," she said.

Smartphones

AUSTRALIANS are abandoning pen-and-paper shopping lists and buying with their mobile phones in the latest retail craze.

The newest type of shopping to sweep the globe is set to drive annual sales of $119 billion worldwide by 2015, a report reveals.

Consumers can already order goods ranging from pizzas to digital cameras, TVs, nappies and even footy jumpers with the touch of a phone button.

Others are using handsets to direct them to supermarkets, banks or fast-food outlets while on the road, or to check recipes before grabbing groceries on the run.

Retail analysts said most Aussies were using smartphones like the iPhone to search for products and best deals or to find store locations before hitting the shops to buy.

An ABI Research report predicts a boom in actual buying in future years as more consumers upgrade their handsets and companies make online shopping services more quickly and easily accessible with phones as well as computers.

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Pizza chain Domino's says a new iPhone application that lets users order its food with their handsets has generated sales of $2 million in just 12 weeks.

Since October, 110,000 iPhone users have downloaded an application that lets you find your nearest Coles supermarket, create electronic shopping lists through links to recipes or select various groceries from a virtual home.

Coles IT general manager Conrad Harvey said there were plans to add weekly catalogue specials.

The company is also investigating a system to share electronic shopping lists with family and friends.