With over 3 billion mobile users today, mobile devices have become the most ubiquitous communications medium in the hands of the consumers. People who communicate through social networks have grown multifold. Users are increasingly consuming more and more content from social media sites like YouTube. Innovative mash-ups that combine the strengths of location based services are becoming a big hit. Number of users consuming content on-the-go is multiplying as is evident from the growth in mobile broadband usage.
With the runaway success of the first mobile application marketplace introduced by Apple Corp., other OEMs have realized the potential of this new business model and have announced plans to follow suit. With evolving technologies, mobile phones have started becoming smarter with intuitive interfaces, advanced computational capabilities and faster data connections. And with the proliferation of Internet services driven by Web 2.0, explosive growth in mobile broadband usage and developer-driven innovation led by platforms like iPhone and Android, we are seeing a growing consumer appetite for mobile applications that bring value, utility and fun to the consumers.
Changing market landscape has prompted wireless operators to revisit their strategies to address and monetize the mobile application market opportunity. In order to offer new services based on social networking and social media content, mobile operators have generally supported “black box” solutions where they have little visibility into the customer and the interactions they enable, but benefit from data or usage charges. To respond to the competition of Application marketplaces that have generated significant revenues, operators have begun to enhance their existing storefronts by introducing better user experience or adding more content and applications.
Mobile operators will have to move away from simply enabling interactions and connectivity to provide a rich experience and higher value to its users in order to retain customer loyalty and offset competition. Between social media and other mobile applications, there are numerous innovation opportunities that still exist for mobile operators which can unlock new revenue streams and help them exploit this opportunity. Combination of a smart business model and faster innovation will hold the key to success.
How can mobile operators leverage this mobile application opportunity, drive faster innovation and prosper in this environment? We would like to hear your thoughts.
