I love the Silicon Alley insider chart-of-the-day feed (and it’s well worth subscribing to). The chart below was especially surprising, because I knew that the smartphone (esp. touchscreen) market is hot, but it seems that we’re only 2 years away from the pivot point where the phone really starts to become a seriously major way to access web and social media sites.
Mobile Marketing for real by 2011
However, the reality is that I’m still hearing (and seeing case studies of) very few brands talking about mobile marketing in a serious way. Asia still has a way to go before broadband is ubiquitous, but it is the fastest region in the world for mobile adoption. I’m still not having many conversations with brands about mobile marketing - many are still not optimising websites for mobile. However, forecasts like this show it’s a format that will soon be impossible to ignore. Will that be enough - I hope so!
I presented at last April’s Mobile Marketing forum in Singapore and the general consensus remained that mobile remained a massive opportunity unrealised (SMS Gupshop not-withstanding). I’m looking foward to discussing the Asian reality of the opportunity further around mobile marketing further at SPIKES Asia in September and will actually probe clients and industry people I’m meeting more about mobile in the next few weeks and will share what I hear/find.
Interested in your insights and perspectives about mobile marketing - it is massively interesting - but from a marketing perspective is it for real, about to happen, or still a fad? As always, let me know.
Tags: chart of the day, Gupshop, mobile marketing forum, moble marketing, Social media, Spikes Asia
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August 24th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
So if this is the case, when will I be able to buy an inexpensive smartphone? I think the steep price of the best gadgets to access the internet on stop people from adopting mobile internet as much as any other hurdle the medium faces.
(At least that’s when I’ll start using mobile internet…)
August 25th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I think the price of handsets that access the Web has come down dramatically (e.g. I can pick up a new, fully-loaded Xperia for $SG400 these days) - esp. if people are willing to look at second-hand sets, which can be picked up for very little.
If anything, it’s still the price of the data plans that can crush people’s excitement around mobile browsing. However, there’s not doubt smartphones are transforming the market. I personally don’t believe that mobile marketing will be as big an investment channel as PC-focused, but the size of the installed base will be staggering by 2011.