Mobile Application Downloads to Reach Five Billion by 2014

New York based research firm ABI Research says that the number of mobile applications downloaded by mobile phone users is expected to reach five billion by 2014. It says that the surge in smart phone sales and the increase in the number of mobile app stores are the reasons why there has been a sharp increase in the number of apps downloaded in the last few years.

The iPhone, according to ABI Research, is still the major player in the mobile app market. However, its market share is expected to reduce considerably over the next few years due to the rise of Google Android. Android currently has an 11% market share. Due to its increasing popularity and Apple’s shrinking market share, Android’s market share is expected to increase from 11% to 23% by 2014.

The reason behind Android’s growth in the mobile application market is not hard to fathom. As of now, 14 phones run the Android OS and the number is expected to increase sharply this year due to the introduction of new Android based phones. Also, the response for free mobile apps from Google, Google Maps being a fine example, has been great so far. Since Google is expected to come up with more such free apps and ad-funded apps, it is safe to assume that the number of mobile apps downloaded by consumers will increase in the coming years.

ABI Research has also made another observation. It says that even though the number of mobile apps downloaded by consumers is expected to rise sharply, it may not reflect positively on the revenue chart. It says that the proliferation of free ad-funded apps might make people reluctant to buy paid mobile apps. It is quite a bold prediction given the fact that the idea of ad-funded apps is still in its nascent stage.

What I believe is that there is enough space for both ad-funded apps and paid apps. While the demand for free ad-funded apps is likely to increase significantly, the demand for paid apps, particularly business centric mobile apps, will not disappear completely, as there are quite a few people who do not like the idea of a mobile app loaded with ads. So, I predict a mobile ecosystem where ad-funded apps and paid apps can coexist without any problems. What do you think? I am interested in hearing different opinions.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Greystripe Inc To Go AdMob’s Way?

It seems Greystripe Inc., a San Francisco based mobile advertising company, might go the AdMob way. Its founder Michael Chang said in a recent interview that he has been talking to a lot of what he calls ‘potential suitors’.

Started in 2004, Greystripe has been going strong for the past six years and is one of the leading rich media mobile advertising networks in the world today. It specializes in delivering full screen ads on the iPhone, Java, and Android platforms. It also serves flash ads on the iPhone using a unique transcoding technology. The company has raised nearly $18 million in venture funding and is expecting its sales to triple this year. Michael expects the company to be profitable next year.

Ever since Google bought AdMob, a lot of eyes have turned towards Greystripe, which is a competitor to AdMob. Michael Chang says that in the last two months, he has met a lot of people who have expressed their interest in buying the company. He says that a lot of people were actually interested in Greystripe even before Google’s acquisition of AdMob.

Going by what Michael Chang says, it is safe to assume that Google’s acquisition of AdMob, albeit inadvertently, has made a lot of people focus their attention on companies like Greystripe. By acquiring AdMob, Google has become the top player on the market with 30 to 40 percent market share. So, companies like Yahoo and Microsoft might try to acquire small and medium sized mobile advertising companies to consolidate their market share. Microsoft, in particular, is in dire need of a revival and I will not be surprised if they make the first move. It should be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming months.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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The Need for Mobile Websites - Will Big Brands Wake Up?

Here’s a news item that surprised me to say the least. Interbrand recently released its list of the top 100 brands for 2009 and nearly 1/3rd of the brands in that list do not have their own mobile website.

If your reaction to this news is ‘dude, what’s the big deal?’ – let me tell you something. According to statistics, the number of people who use smart phones (read iPhone, Blackberry, Android, etc) keeps increasing every year. In North America alone, nearly 26% of mobile users use the mobile web facility on their phone regularly. In other words, they use their mobile phone to browse the web. With more and more people buying internet enabled high end phones, it is only logical to assume that this percentage will grow significantly in the near future. So, you’d assume that big brands would have woken up to reality long time back and created their own mobile websites, right? Well; it turns out it is not the case.

Remember – I am not talking about small, lesser known brands here. Big, famous brands like Coca Cola and GE do not have a mobile website. To say that this is surprising is a huge understatement.

I have talked about the importance of big brands having a good mobile presence and how important it is to have a decent mobile website. I firmly believe that a well designed, easy to access mobile website is of paramount importance for any brand, leave alone huge brands like Coca Cola and GE.

Some could argue that iPhone and certain other mobile phones offer a full browser experience and so there is no need for a mobile website. Guess what? Not everyone in the U.S. uses an iPhone. There are other phones whose mobile browsers are not nearly as good as the iPhone mobile browser. What about the people who use these phones? What are they supposed to do?

Contrary to what most people think, browsing the web using a mobile phone is not easy. The screen is small, the keypad is small, and it is certainly not as easy as browsing the web on your PC or laptop. This is why you need to have a customized mobile website which loads quickly and easy to navigate. It is not hard to do. Facebook has a very good mobile site, Toyota has one, MySpace has one, Microsoft has one, and a number of other famous brands have one too. So, the only explanation is that some brands have not yet realized the potential of mobile internet and are reluctant to reach out to their users through their most personal device – the mobile phone.

I hope it does not stay this way. The future is mobile and let us hope – for the sake of all mobile users in the world – these brands realize this sooner than later.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Web.

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Motorola’s First Android based Mobile Phone - Cliq

Motorola has come up with its first Android powered mobile phone called Cliq. The phone comes with a responsive touch screen, a slide out QWERTY keyboard, a 5 megapixel camera, and a built-in video and audio player. The USP of the phone is its social networking software called MotoBlur.

What MotoBlur does is simple – it makes mobile social networking a lot easier. All you need to do is enter all your information – email accounts and social networking accounts. MotoBlur syncs everything into a stream and gives you constant updates from various social networking sites. Whenever any of your contacts post a message or send you a mail, it will let you know immediately.

When you switch on the phone, you will see four widgets, or word bubbles as they are usually referred to, on your screen – Happenings, Status, Direct, and Weather. Happenings widget shows you all the posts made by your contacts, Status widget allows you to update your personal status simultaneously on various social networking sites, Direct widget brings you all the private messages, emails, and text messages your contacts send you, and Weather widget gives you weather updates throughout the day.

One of the interesting features of Cliq is that whenever you take a picture or shoot a video with the mobile camera, a small ‘share’ icon appears on the screen. One click and you can share the photo or the video with all your friends on various social networking sites.

In a sense, Cliq is a make or break product for Motorola. The company, as some of you might know, has been going through a rough phase of late and it badly needs to make something happen. Since the success of Razr, the company has not come up with anything worthy enough to be called its successor. Now, after eight long years, Motorola has unveiled what could be the worthy successor of Razr – Cliq. As of now, Cliq is only available through T-Mobile USA. A lot of experts, however, feel that Motorola should join hands with other carriers to make this product a success.

A lot of people also feel that Google sees Cliq as its chance to make its presence felt on a market which is completely dominated by Apple iPhone and Blackberry. If you remember, Google released Android in 2007 and it still has not been able to make its presence felt on the market. As of now, there are only four phone models that run with Android software. So, in my opinion, Google has a lot riding on this phone too. Let us see how it turns out for everyone involved with it.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Social Networking.

1 comment.

Will Microsoft Tag Change the Landscape of Mobile Marketing?

Using 2D barcodes in mobile marketing is something that we are aware of. However, when Microsoft decides to do it, it definitely deserves a special mention. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it will introduce a new barcode technology which will bring the print medium, internet medium, and the mobile phone together successfully.

At CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2009, Microsoft released the beta version of what they call Microsoft Tag – a barcode technology which can help to store data in the form of graphical bitmaps.

Microsoft Tag differs from QR codes or any other type of 2D barcode available today because of an important reason – It is based on a brand new technology called HCCB (High Capacity Color Barcodes) which uses triangle shaped color pixels to store data instead of the usual black and white square pixels. Moreover, these tags do not store any information. Instead, they store a unique ID which is used to retrieve information from Microsoft servers. So, it is now possible to store a lot more information than what can be usually stored in conventional 2D barcodes.

Here is how it works.

Microsoft Tag contains HCCB data which is nothing but a unique ID for the information stored in a Microsoft server. When the tag is read, the HCCB data is sent to the server and the publisher’s URL is returned to the mobile phone and the user is able to open the appropriate website in his mobile browser. All this takes place in a span of few seconds.

What you need

What you need is an internet enabled smart phone with a camera, a reasonably good data plan, Microsoft Tag application, and a Microsoft Tag account. This application works on phones which run on Symbian, Blackberry, Android, J2ME-MMP, Palm, Java 2 Micro Edition, iPhone, and any Windows OS.

You can open an account on Microsoft Tag webpage in a matter of few seconds and download the application on to your mobile phone for free.

How you use it?

When you see a print ad with a Microsoft Tag, all you need to do is activate the tag application on your mobile phone and take a picture of the barcode using your mobile phone camera. Immediately, you will be able to see the publisher’s website, which contains information about the product or service mentioned in the ad, on your mobile browser.

Why is it good for businesses?

It is a very simple yet effective way to reach the end user. It makes advertising a lot easier. When people find a product or service mentioned in a print ad appealing, they usually try to get more information about it. If the business owner can give them the information they want immediately, the chances of a sale increase significantly. This is now possible with Microsoft Tag. It is reliable, easy to use, and, most importantly, free. So, a lot people, small business owners in particular, can benefit immensely from this technology. I think this technology will make a big impact in the near future and will increase the scope of mobile marketing tremendously. Let us wait and see if I am proven right or not.

PS - You can read more about 2D barcodes and their role in mobile marketing here,here, and here.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Microsoft, Mobile Web.

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