Poll: Traders’ Estimate of the Mobile Terminal

Unfortunately, there are no clear projections available at this moment about the future of the mobile trading. However, there are a lot of speculations surrounding this matter. In our attempt to resolve this ambiguity we decided to conduct a survey among traders to find out their opinion about our mobile terminals. Through the efforts of this survey, we have managed to established a clear picture of what our mobile traders currently think about the product as well as their requests and wishes in future developments of our mobile terminals.

Based on the results of the survey, the functionalities and features that are currently incorporated in the mobile terminals offered by MetaQuotes Software Corp. are fully satisfying the needs of 92% of its users. At the same time, 6% of the participants of the survey believe that certain improvements should be incorporated into the mobile terminal to make it more comfortable for use. "However, if you plan improvements, you may consider moving symbols up & down in the "Quote" window”, Krzysztof Turowski wrote.

The current functionalities embedded in the mobile terminal are not suited for 2% of the respondents. For that reason, they are not using mobile terminals.

Based on the answers we have got, we can say that the future of mobile trading does not seem to be determined. Over half of the respondents (57%) consider mobile trading to become the main trading technology in future. Karl J. Zinchak believes that mobile trading "… will become mainstream... As easy as using a cell phone". Traders also consider as the main advantages of the mobile terminal an ability to spend more time with family and rest without losing the sight of the market.

About 43% of the respondents think that the mobile terminal will be just an auxiliary tool for traders. This is how Egor sees the future of mobile trading: "Only to control your desktop terminal while going on business etc., especially when automatic expert works”.

An interesting fact to note is that some traders changed their trading activities with appearance of mobile terminals. About two-thirds of the respondents declared about that. Many of them relate this factor to trading effectiveness and possibility to make trades at a proper moment. "Looking for market at any moment is very important for me”, is Yulian Goncharenko’s opinion.

Traders’ opinions survey shows that the majority of mobile terminal owners cannot imagine their trading without it. Many perceive this to be a good opportunity to watch the market when the stationary PC is not available: on a visit, in a shop, in a traffic jam, or on a business trip. Over 80% of traders use their mobile terminals on a daily basis. 16% use their mobile terminals several times a week. For this users, the mobile terminal usage frequency depends on the specific situation.

We also asked our respondents to express their opinions about what they, as users, would like to change in the mobile terminal. There are many ideas and requests made by our customers ranging from publishing the current time on charts to launching Expert Advisors. It must be said that the most frequent and popular idea is the launching Custom Indicators and Expert Advisors on PDAs. Over 40% of the respondents would like to see this function embedded in the mobile terminal. At the same time, there are some traders on the other side of the fence. For example, Vadim thinks that "there is no need to have many different indicators to trade successfully, they will just confuse one. So, standard indicators are sufficient”.

We are pleased with the obtained results. Now we have some figures that represent our customers’ wishes. In the near future, we are going to try and fix some bugs, as well as to realize some traders’ ideas. However, it will not be possible to fulfill all the wishes – some ideas contradict the architecture implied in the programs.

On behalf of our company, we would like to thank everybody who participated in the survey. Your opinion is very important to us.