What’s the Key to the Mobile Market?
Geeks are geeks, wherever they are. At the after-party subsequent to the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards, over some free alcohol and beer, I was involved in a discussion about mobile services. And we all agreed that most companies haven't managed to maximize the potential of the mobile market.
Voice and SMS continue to be the primary sources of income in the mobile industry. Most of the services that have found a measure of success are based on these, like the voting for American Idol. And as service providers increase their subscriber base, the profits will continue to grow.
Yet when the day comes that almost everyone has a smartphone or a PDA phone, the earnings will plateau. Service and content providers face the prospect of increasing costs supported by minimally growing profit. Which is why the next compelling and relevant application must be found as soon as possible, one that many will feel the need to use. This will most likely be based on our need to communicate, just like calls and text.
Interestingly, maybe the answer lies in making popular web applications, like social networking, more mobile. HipCricket looks to be a potential success. It gives companies and their customers an additional way of communicating, through their mobiles. Updates can be broadcast to willing clients, while users can send feedback or comments without relying on email or loading a web page for instance. Twitter's initial success is also based on communication. In just 140 characters or less, users can let everyone know what's happening.
This post isn't about showcasing these two services, but on the need to focus on the basics to come up with new and gripping services. Ironically, for companies to profit their ever-growing consumer bases, they must keep in mind on what made voice and SMS a success: our demand to be in touch constantly. From high-end do-it-all PDA phones, to units that are barely smartphones, and in varying degrees, all of us will always feel the need to connect with each other.
