Survey: Operator Personal Cloud Storage Critical for Consumers and Building Customer Loyalty

FOSTER CITY, CA--(Marketwire - Aug 21, 2012) - Funambol, the leader of white-label personal cloud solutions for mobile providers, today published the results of a global survey of consumers asking about their views on personal cloud storage (PCS) services. The survey asked 42,500 consumers about PCS services and whether they would use a PCS service from mobile operators. Seventy-four percent said they would use a PCS service from their operator. Seventy-seven percent responded that if they used their operator's PCS service, this would make them less likely to switch operators. Seventy-four percent indicated that if they used an operator family cloud, this would make them less likely to change operators. The findings underscore the importance of operators providing a PCS service and how their window of opportunity is limited to deploy a PCS service before others capture their subscribers' content.

The free survey report can be downloaded instantly at http://funambol.com/solutions/library.php with registration. The survey results will be presented during a free webinar entitled "Personal Cloud Crystal Ball: What's Next for Users & the Industry?" on Thursday, August 23 @ 8am PDT / 11am EDT /4pm UK with registration at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/684115688. The webinar also discusses a Funambol forecast of how the number of PCS service accounts is expected to reach one billion by 2016.

"Operators face mounting pressure to reduce churn and increase loyalty, and many are considering personal clouds to do both," said Hal Steger, Funambol VP Marketing. "This report provides further proof that operator personal clouds can significantly increase loyalty and reduce churn and that the financial benefits can be enormous. Based on these results and market conditions, operators need to move quickly before it's too late."

The PCS market is changing rapidly and offers consumers more choice than ever. The survey polled consumers on a range of personal cloud questions. In addition to the aforementioned results, it found:

• 94% were aware of PCS services such as iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive & Funambol OneMediaHub
• 68% reported being satisfied and 24% said they were very satisfied with their PCS services
• The top 3 most desired attributes of a PCS service are remote access, backup & multiple device sync
• 21% said they are paying for a PCS service
• 86% reported using more than one PCS service
• The top 3 suggested improvements are more storage, better security and higher performance; and
• The average number of mobile devices and computers used was four

Funambol's webinar will discuss the survey report and key trends that will accelerate user adoption in coming years. It will also describe important technology innovations and the evolution of the prevailing freemium business model. The webinar is for anyone interested in learning more about the personal cloud and its future direction.

About Funambol
Funambol is the leader of white-label personal cloud solutions for mobile providers. Funambol solutions have been deployed by leading companies in mobile, including operators, device manufacturers (OEMs), internet firms, content companies and system integrators. Visit http://www.funambol.com for details.