Mobile web to be worth $16 billion in 2011

Apparently, some people are confused as to why there is so much fuss about mobile web. Well; the short answer is - $16 billion.

1. Analysts say that mobile web will be worth a whopping $16 billion in just three years from now. Now, a $16 billion market is something that is too big for even giants like Google and Yahoo to be taken lightly.

2. Also, the size of the mobile phone market is three times bigger than the size of the web market. In other words, there are three mobile phone users for one PC user. Now, where do you see more opportunities?

3. Apple iPhone, in more ways than one, changed the landscape of the mobile world. Since its arrival, mobile internet usage has increased as most of the iPhone users regularly surf the net from their phone. Add more high-end phones like Nokia N95, Blackberry, and other such smart phones to the equation and you have the perfect recipe for a mobile web revolution.

4. With 3G and 3.5G networks, high speed mobile browsing is very much possible for mobile users. This will significantly increase the number of mobile web users in the future.

Hence, the excitement.

While Google is busy with Android, Yahoo has been silently working its way to the top. Both these companies have kept people guessing what would be their next move in the mobile world for quite some time now. In my opinion, Yahoo has a slight edge over Google as it’s already set its foot firmly in the mobile market. However, if Android could do to Google what the iPhone did for Apple, we’d be looking at a completely different situation. Either way, the competition is going to be interesting to watch.

Categories: Mobile Web.

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Mobile web is huge - says Nielson Mobile

A latest report from Nielson Mobile says that mobile internet has reached a tipping point. According to its latest survey, there are over 40 million active mobile internet users in the U.S. alone. And the number is growing steadily by the day. So, Nielson Mobile states that mobile internet, as an advertising medium, has reached a critical mass. What this means to advertisers is that they now have a very good market with a good demographic depth.

Now, this should not be surprising for anyone who’s been following the mobile web market closely. Mobile broadband usage has skyrocketed in the recent times and we’ve had report after report predicting just how big mobile web can be in the future. So, all I can say to people who doubted the potential of mobile web is – I told you so. In fact, I think there is still scope for a huge growth. As more and more people start using Apple iPhones, Blackberries, Nokia N95s, and other such phones, the number of mobile web users will increase exponentially. Already, over 80% of iPhone users surf the internet regularly from their phone. So, with more and more sophisticated devices coming into the market, we can expect further growth.

Now that we’ve heard the good news, can you predict which the most popular website among mobile internet users is? If you said Yahoo, give yourself a self-congratulatory pat on your back.

This again should not be very surprising for people following the mobile web market closely. Yahoo has made tremendous progress in the mobile web market and it’s not surprising that it enjoys great popularity among users. However, Google and Microsoft come in the second and third spots respectively and are not far away either.

Categories: Mobile Web.

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Will newspapers go mobile?

Websites are trying to reinvent themselves by going mobile. Corporations are trying to reinvent themselves by going mobile. Advertisers are trying to reinvent themselves by going mobile. Banks are trying to reinvent themselves by going mobile. What’s next on the list? Newspapers, they say.

When you look at the current scenario, it looks like an obvious transition for newspapers. The circulation is declining by the day as people are more and more getting used to the content available on the internet and the mobile phone. In this case, newspapers hardly have a choice.

Fortunately, the bigwigs of the newspaper world have realized the need for this transition. Already, we have seen Associated Content launch its mobile portal and I have no doubt it will be followed by other news networks. The writing is on the wall. With 3.3 billion active users, mobile market is the biggest market there is. Realizing this, U.S. mobile carriers have invested an astonishing $40 billion to retool themselves according to the new mobile age.

Currently, more than 30% of mobile users surf the internet on their mobile phone. The number is rapidly rising as new mobile users these days mostly go for web enabled mobile phones. With this being the case, newspapers have to find a way to get into the mobile phone at any cost.

The newspaper, fortunately, is almost tailor made for a medium like mobile phone. The specialty of newspapers lies in their ability to provide local content, which is exactly what mobile users want. The more local your data is, the better it will be for the users, since most of them use their mobile phone to find out local information like weather, local events, and so on. So, the transition will be seamless, so to speak. When newspapers go mobile, it will also mean a huge opportunity for mobile advertisers to be able to display highly targeted ads along with the local news content.

What needs to be done – this everyone seems to know. When will it get done? That’s the question. Don’t you agree?

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Web.

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Vodafone to launch nationwide marketing campaign to promote mobile browsing

If there is one company which is very excited about the future of mobile web, it’s Vodafone. It first started off by slashing its mobile internet tariff by almost 50%, as a result of which you can now get mobile broadband at £15 a month, and now it has announced that it will launch a marketing campaign to encourage people to use mobile internet more often.

This campaign will serve as an eye opener for common public and Vodafone intends to make people realize how easy it is to access the internet from their mobile phones. Vodafone plans to launch a massive, nationwide marketing campaign all through the summer and plans to target train stations, shopping malls, bus stations, live events, and more.

It has started off well by buying media space in train stations all over the country. So, you can expect to see Vodafone ads with the slogan “Travel the mobile internet” in billboards, ticket barriers, and rotating poster boards soon in a train station near you.

It has been announced that the campaign will start off at London’s Kings Cross station and will be run all over the country for more than 250 days.

More than the campaign, I think the price cut will do loads of good to Vodafone’s mobile internet division. Don’t you think so?

Categories: Mobile Web.

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Mobile broadband to become bigger than fixed line internet

We’ve already seen some signs that indicate just how big mobile web will become in future and here’s one more to that list. In fact, this one hits the nail on the head. Broadband experts predict that in just about two years, mobile broadband will overtake fixed line internet.

This comes off as hugely surprising news for many, even for people, yours truly included, who feel positive about mobile web. The reason is simple. They say it’s going to happen in just two freaking years.

They state a few reasons to back up this ambitious claim. First of all, the ability to connect your laptop to the internet through your mobile device is the biggest plus. This is becoming more and more common with people who wish to stay connected all the time. Finding a browsing center in an unknown area is a pain in the neck and finding a Wi-Fi hotspot zone to use your laptop doesn’t sound too exciting either. So, mobile broadband sounds like the perfect option.

Also, the price of mobile broadband has come down recently. 3, the famous UK operator, offers mobile broadband for just £15 per month. There has been a steady decline in the price of mobile broadband for quite some time and especially over the past few months, the prices have come down almost by 50%. So, this encourages a lot of mobile users to think of using the mobile web facility.

Most importantly, HSDPA, 3G, and 3.5G networks offer high speed browsing for users. According to a survey, the average speed offered by mobile broadband providers is around 1.5 Mbps, which is not at all bad.

The number of mobile broadband users has been steadily increasing and experts promise that if it continued to grow at this rate for the next year or two, we would be looking at a scenario where fixed line broadband connections would become a rarity.

That, I think, is one heck of a claim. What do you say folks?

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Web.

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