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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Google’s Holiday Gift To You - Mobile Coupons

The holiday season has started. People are gearing up to buy lots of stuff. Businesses are preparing to increase their sales by offering plenty of offers, discounts, and more. In this situation, what can a company like Google do to help a customer like you? Very simple – they can help you find the best offers in town. And how do they plan to do that? The answer, again, is very simple – mobile coupons.

That’s right folks. Finding the best deals in town this holiday season has become a lot simpler. Holiday season sales, discounts, deals, and offers – you can find it all on your mobile phone in the form of mobile coupons. You can simply show these coupons to the retailer (or wholesaler depending on who offers the discounts) and redeem the offer.

So, what actually happens is

1. A local business, an electronics showroom for example, adds a mobile coupon to Google Local Business Center listing.

2. You go to google.com on your mobile phone and search for some good deals on DVD players.

3. The Place Page shows that a showroom nearby offers a 10% discount on Blu-ray players and gives three Blu-ray discs for free.

4. You get a message which says that you should show the coupon on your phone at the participating business to redeem the offer.

5. You go to the showroom, show the mobile coupon, and buy the DVD player at a discount and get all the free stuff.

6. You walk away with a big smile on your face.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? What this means to you, and millions of other mobile users, is that you do not have to go through newspapers, magazines, and billboards looking for the best deals this holiday season. You can get all the information you want on the go right on your mobile phone. It is a lot more convenient and saves a lot of time as well. So, get ready to shop till you drop.

Categories: Google, All things mobile phones.

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A Detailed Look at Google’s Acquisition of AdMob

So, Google has acquired AdMob. Is it a big deal? Yes, it is. Will it have a big impact on mobile advertising industry? Yes, it will. Is it surprising? No, it is not. Let me tell you why.

Regular readers of this blog know a thing or two about AdMob. It is one of the few mobile advertising companies that I’ve written a lot about on this blog. Anyone who has seen the growth chart of AdMob will hardly find it surprising that a giant like Google has acquired the company. After all, the company has served billions of mobile ads and its clientele include big names like Yahoo.

AdMob specializes in web display ads and application display ads. When mobile users surf the net or play a mobile video game, they will be served targeted ads. Google, as you know, specializes in search ads. When mobile users search for something on the internet, the results page they get will contain targeted ads. Now, combine these two technologies and you have a killer mobile marketing strategy.

Google has spent an astronomical $750 million on this acquisition. Some people think it has spent a lot of money to acquire what many perceive a small business. I do not think so. Google, as we all know, has been trying to make its presence felt in mobile advertising market for quite some time now. While it is certainly seen as a force to be reckoned with, its success on the mobile market is nowhere near its success on the internet. So, acquiring a company like AdMob can help Google establish itself on the mobile phone advertising market.

Moreover, this acquisition will give Google a chance to understand the dynamics of the mobile advertising market. It now has access to a huge amount of data which includes the usage data of various mobile applications. It now knows what kind of mobile apps are preferred by mobile users and what kind of ads have the best conversion rate. With this knowledge, Google can fine tune its advertising strategies and get even better results. So, in my opinion, this acquisition can only be good for Google in the long run.

If you think about it, what Google has done is not surprising at all. You are a new entrant to the market. You see that a number of players are already going strong. You can grab a big share of the market by either competing with them or by buying them out. When you have enough money to buy half of your competition, the latter sounds like a much better option, don’t you think? Something tells me that we’ll see more such acquisitions in the recent future.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google.

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Huge Slump in Smartphone Market Share - Can Microsoft Reinvent Itself?

When you take a close look at the smartphone market, you will notice something strange. Experts often talk about what is possibly the most popular smartphone available today – the Apple iPhone. They talk about how Google Android could give Apple a tough competition. They talk about Symbian and they talk about Blackberry. They even talk about recently released smartphones like Motorola Cliq and Droid. One name that is conspicuously missing from this list is Microsoft’s Windows Mobile.

It is really surprising. After all, Microsoft entered the smartphone market long back – Pocket PC 2002, the predecessor of Windows Mobile OS, was released in 2002. Soon, Windows Mobile was released in 2003. What has Microsoft managed to achieve in the past six years? The answer is – nothing worthwhile.

Windows Mobile, as of now, is the fourth most used mobile operating system in the world. Nokia with its Symbian OS is the market leader – followed by Blackberry and the iPhone. Experts, however, predict that it might not be able to stay at that spot for long. When you take a good look at the numbers, you get the feeling that what they predict might actually come true.

In the first quarter of 2004, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile had an envious 23% share in the smartphone market. In the first quarter of 2005, there was a steady decline and its market share was somewhere around 18%. In the first quarter of 2006, it further slumped and remained with a market share of 12%. In 2008, its market share dropped to 14%. At the start of 2009, it slumped further and remained at 7.9%. If we go by the recent report from AdMob, Microsoft’s market share, as of now, is only somewhere around 4%.

It is quite a slide – from 23% market share to 4% market share in a span of just five years. In the mean time, Apple, Nokia, RIM, and even Google have made their presence felt in the market big time.

It is really hard to believe. After all, Microsoft has got everything - all the money in the world, some of the brightest minds in the world, and plenty of goodwill. Yet, it has not been able to conquer the mobile market like it conquered the PC market. While late entrants like Apple and Google have been able to generate a big buzz, Microsoft has not been able to do anything that is worth taking notice.

Apple iPhone continues to climb the ladder and even new entrants like Motorola Droid have managed to create a big buzz. With this being the case, Microsoft’s only bet is Windows Mobile 7 OS – which incorporates the elements of Windows Mobile 6.5 and Zune – which is slated for release in 2010.

The mobile phone industry, the smartphone market in particular, is expected to grow bigger by the day. Mobile advertising, as we all know, is set to grow big as well. The time is ripe and the competition is intense. The question is – can Microsoft pull it off?

Categories: All things mobile phones, Microsoft.

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