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Update: HP has just notified us that the winner of the laptop (below) must be a Singapore resident I can hear your groans because I would feel the same too. Nonetheless, please feel free to comment.
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If you ask me what I envision the future to be, I would say mobile.
Some of you might share the same vision, but what opportunities lie ahead is something that I’m particularly interested in.
Before we get too engrossed in the guessing game, let’s see what hints past events in the mobile industry have left us.
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1. The iPhone Explosion
Apple rocked the mobile industry with the introduction of the iPhone. Since then, its market share has seen amazing growth. It is not the first smartphone, but it’s revolutionary – thanks to its massive number of applications that are highly customizable to suit everyone’s needs. There is an app for almost anything.
That probably shook giant mobile makers, Nokia, Samsung, and HTC back to reality. The iPhone technology was at least 5 years more advance than what the world had back in 2007. Many great entrepreneurs saw the opportunity to ride on the iPhone wave. Tapulous is a good example; the amount of revenue generated by it was astonishing.
2. Widespread Smartphone adoption
Nokia has reacted to the iPhone rave via lawsuits, BlackBerry came out with its own BlackBerry Appworld, and Motorola with its Droid (remember the iDon’t campaign?) Most recently, we saw Google’s Nexus One’s potential of becoming iPhone’s strongest competition yet.
Nexus One has a simple design like the iPhone and its dynamic apps platform depends heavily on its users too. It isn’t my concern here to debate if Nexus One is indeed better than the iPhone.
But will Nexus One be a success? Probably yes. I haven’t gotten hold of it but if it comes from Google, we should all expect it to be of high product quality. On top of that, Google has a whole lot of supporters and developers (for apps) that are willing to give Nexus One a try.
With iPhone and Nexus One out in the market, we can expect more people switching to smartphones, which is the building block towards the mobile rave.
3. Changing Behavior
Data plans used to cost a bomb several years ago, but it has gone increasingly affordable since. The combination of affordable data plan and increasing smartphone usage would get more people online, which is exactly what the chart below illustrates.
As more time is spent on smartphones, we would see more folks either on the web or applications (playing games, reading news or managing your work schedule). A classic example of how technology has changed our behavior.
With increased usage comes opportunities for advertisers to spread their message.
4. Mobile Ads. Mobile Apps
Google acquired AdMob for $750 million while Apple acquired Quattro Wireless for $275 million. Both of which are mobile advertising companies.
With the vision of widespread adoption of smartphones, hosting mobile ads is probably one of the most lucrative businesses to be in. And mind you, ads don’t only appear on websites or Google search, they appear on apps too. Whether we’re on the web or meddling with apps, smartphone users are consistently exposed to ads.
Applications are hot. Think TIME mobile, Starbucks, Pizza Hut order app etc.
As a new channel to gain sales, smartphones have become essential to companies. This is especially so as they get smarter. Their capability isn’t restricted by the manufacturer but by the user.
Well, at least for the iPhone users, they are certainly maximizing their phones’ potential with 2 billion downloads over the span of 2 years.
5. Opportunities
The current situation reminds me of the time when Google had just perfected its advertising platform, which also coined the birth of search engine marketing (SEM). Companies that jumped right in were pretty brave. No one knew Google would be the Google we know today (or in the future).
First mover companies that took the plunge to manage their clients’ Google Adwords accounts were making huge money. So what business opportunities would mobile bring us? Here are some that we have thought of:
a. Mobile consultancy firm: Help firms manage their mobile website or enhance their mobile visibility through apps and mobile advertising.
b. Mobile ad network: While Google and Apple might have the upper hand, there is always room to adopt a niche position. A good contrast would be between Google AdWords and BuySellAds.
c. Mobile Technology: A platform that helps firm to build customized mobile solution, from customer service to retail store sales.
d. MMS and SMS Marketing: A platform that helps to draft (MMS and SMS), track and measure ROI for optimized mobile advertising.
e. Apps software: A software that allows small businesses to create their own apps with simple GUI.
f. Location advertising: An app that allows a user to explore great deals and promotion (say 1km radius) around his/her current location.
Win A HP Mini 5101
This blog post is part of HP’s Future is campaign, “Blog A Trend”.
To participate, drop a comment below. We’re interested to hear your thoughts, criticisms, and vision for the future of technology. The best commenter across all 5 blogs (that are taking part in this campaign) might stand a chance to win a HP Mini 5101 completely free. Winner will be announced latest by early March 2010. Have fun!
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