RIM Looking to Acquire a Mobile Advertising Network?

The latest news in the mobile world is that Research In Motion, the famed Blackberry maker, is looking to buy a mobile advertising network.

RIM firmly believes that the only way to take on its arch rivals Apple and Google is to buy a mobile ad network which is big enough to challenge the networks of its rivals. It is said the company has been negotiating with Millennial Media, a Baltimore based advertising network. The talks, however, were not a success as the ad network expected a huge sum – somewhere in the range of $400-500 million.

RIM, understandably, is concerned about paying such a huge price as it believes that it is too expensive a price to pay to acquire the network. If you remember, Apple paid close to $300 million to acquire Quattro and Google paid an astronomical $750 million to acquire AdMob.

Millennial Media, according to sources, is not very interested in the deal as it believes that it has a bright future as an independent company. Also, it believes that an acquisition by RIM would limit its ability to serve targeted ads to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod platforms, which would eventually affect its relationship with Apple. So, it is not willing to give the nod unless it gets the right price.

Since the talks with Millennial Media were less than satisfactory, RIM is also believed to be looking for other mobile advertising networks like Greystripe and JumpTap.

The reason why RIM is so desperate to acquire a mobile ad network is not hard to understand. Its share in the global smartphone market slumped from 19.1 percent to 17.8 percent recently and most of its latest launches like Blackberry Storm, Storm2, and Blackberry Torch have not been a great success. So, to catch up with the rapid growth of Google Android and Apple OS, it believes it has to have its own mobile advertising network. While both Millennial Media and Research In Motion have declined to comment publicly on the developments, it is said that we could expect some big news, particularly from the RIM camp, in the near future.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, RIM.

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Mobile Mix From Millennial Media

Millennial Media has launched a new report called Mobile Mix, which covers the latest trends in mobile devices, manufacturers, operating systems, and technology. Some of you might be aware of the fact that Millennial Media already releases a scorecard called SMART (Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting) every month, which focuses on mobile advertising. The company says that Mobile Mix and SMART will complement each other.

Millennial Media has released its fist Mobile Mix report for the month of March 2010. Given below are some of the highlights from the report.

• Apple accounted for over 40% of the ad impressions in the month of March. The company has held on to the top slot continuously for six months now.

• Manufacturers supporting Google Android enabled devices dominate the list of Top 15 Mobile Manufacturers. In fact, more than 50% of the manufacturers on the list are associated with Android powered devices.

• Mobile handheld devices like iPod Touch, iPad, and Sony PSP accounted for nearly 21% of the impressions in the month of March. This is the first time the report has mentioned something about handheld devices with mobile web facility. Earlier, it used to focus only on mobile phones.

• Android ad requests increased by a whopping 75%, which is unprecedented. RIM ad requests, on the other hand, increased by 25%.

Categories: All things mobile phones.

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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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What does Nokia plan to do with Symbian?

Ever since Nokia acquired Symbian and announced that it will be made free of cost, a lot of questions have been raised. The most important question, and the most obvious one too, is the one about the hundreds of millions of dollars that Nokia stands to lose by giving away Symbian free of cost. But then, I’m surprised to notice that a lot of people can’t see the woods for the trees.

Nokia’s plans are very clear. It wants to put Google, Apple, Research In Motion, and Microsoft out of commission by making its open source software the most wanted and the most used mobile software in the world. What this open source software means to developers around the world is that they now have the opportunity to develop as many applications as possible. This will make Symbian handsets more popular than ever.

In my opinion, a lot of developers might prefer Symbian over Apple iPhone or Google Android. The reason is simple. The iPhone, as popular as it may be, is not exactly the market leader. And Google is yet to come up with Android. So, at this situation, developing apps for Symbian, which is the most popular mobile software as of now, sounds really sensible.

If developers around the world started building useful apps for Symbian handsets, it would make Symbian handsets even more popular than what they are right now and the sales will increase exponentially. In other words, Nokia will sell more mobile phones than what it does right now, thanks to this move. And that is exactly what Nokia wants.

Now, it will be interesting to see the reactions of Google, Apple, Microsoft, and RIM. Something’s gotta give. Let’s wait and watch.

Categories: Nokia.

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