BCA

An increasing number of brand owners are seeking to exploit the opportunities afforded by m-commerce, with the iPhone and iPad among the main tools attracting interest.

Adobe, the software provider, conducted a survey of 446 companies, 75% of which had their headquarters in the US, and a majority being drawn from retailers, advertising agencies, IT specialists and the media category.

Nearly 80% of contributors expected to employ this channel for marketing and purposes, declining to 62% for e-commerce, 50% for product information, and 40% for customer service.

In terms of strategy, 80% of respondents either already had or were developing a dedicated mobile site, 50% said the same for an iPhone app, and 35% following such a route for the iPad.

Another 30% currently used text and picture messaging, and around a quarter had established applications for Google’s Android operating system.

Mobile websites drove almost a fifth of all internet traffic, falling to 8% for iPhone apps and less than 5% for the variety of further alternatives.

With regard to displaying products, 81% of enterprises are hoping to have “360-degree spin” features in place by the end of this year, 75% expressed a desire to offer brand comparisons and 74% wished to stream live video.

Custom design and catalogues were mentioned by 73% and 64% of participants respectively, with the number of firms that had succeeded in rolling out these tools are typically at least 40% lower to date.

Looking ahead, 23% of organisations intended to introduce advertising, promotions and bar-coded coupons, while only 9% provided this facility at present.

Just 5% offered the ability to on mobile handsets, and 19% planned to add this functionality this year, totals that were similar for comparing prices available in store and online.

Coda Research, the consultancy, has predicted that revenues generated through this channel should rise by 65% in the US each year to 2015, climbing to $24bn and a 9% share of e-commerce sales.

eBay anticipates mobile device sales of $1.5 billion in 2010

eBay, the auction portal, anticipates that its sales from mobile devices will reach $1.5bn in 2010, while Amazon, the retail giant, reported returns of $1m for the 12 months to June 2010.

Globally, ABI Research has forecast that shoppers will spend $119bn via wireless gadgets in 2015, with Japan set to retain its status as one of the sector’s leading major markets.

From the World Advertising Research Center

iPhone, Blackberry and Android details sketchy

By John Riley

Excitement is already building for the new iPhone 4G and signs suggest it will be unveiled June 21 following the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. RIM has said they will be releasing their Blackberry 6 operating system in the 3rd quarter with a new user interface and WebKit browser, but it may be fall before they release a new phone. Meanwhile, Sprint will be announcing the new HTC Evo 4G this summer, reportedly the premium Android phone.

All U.S. carriers now have phones with the Android operating system. T-Mobile and Verizon are already promoting it as their flagship smartphone. This week, a more advanced Android version, 2.2 Froyo, was officially announced and the big question is whether existing Android phones will receive the update. HTC has said they will. A staggered roll out with the Nextus One smartphone has already been announced, but other Android phones will probably not receive the upgrade as quickly.

Android 2.2 Froyo will have faster speed, better browser performance, sound alert when the battery is low and several smaller improvements. Since January 2009, Android is second only to Blackberry in the percent of Smartphone Operating Systems Unit Share. Apple’s OS X is third.

Lost iPhone reveals new design

When an Apple employee accidently left a prototype of the new iPhone in a bar last month, the finder sold it to the Gizmodo.com blog who disassembled and reported on it in detail. From this story, I learned the design is very different from what came before. For example, it will have a front facing video chat camera, a camera flash and improved display. The back is entirely flat and has an aluminum border going completely around the outside. The screen is smaller and the battery is larger. It also has a new operating system (4.0). Finally, the phone has a Micro-SIM rather than SIM, which is a strong indication it is a new generation device.

The Blackberry 6 operating system most likely will be used to catch up with some of the slick features already offered by some of it’s competitors, specifically gigabytes more memory, flashy software, improved browser, and faster processors. Historically, most of Rim’s revenue has come from high-end devices. Now, the lag in adding features raises a question of RIM’s strategy in that the company could see greater revenue in the lower-end mass market than in the high-end smartphone.

Yet, in the fourth quarter 2009, Nielsen pointed out only 21 percent of American wireless subscribers were using a smartphone which leaves nearly 80 percent of the market open to upgrading. That seems a likely outcome as Nielsen also noted 45 percent of respondents said the next phone they buy will be a smartphone.

Bandwidth hogs may pay more

As the new generation of smartphones make their way to the market, another development seems certain to join the fray. Smartphones are bandwidth hogs and standard cell phone owners are subsidizing them by paying the same rates. Carriers are not immune from the problem because their data traffic has become clogged. This has led Verizon and AT & T to consider setting up a tiered pricing system rather than the flat-based usage now in effect.
Whether a usage based plan or a tiered plan, the result could be a cheaper monthly bill for the cell phone customer because the smartphone owner will pay more as carriers try to free up more bandwidth.

I have not been able to find any information about pricing. Whether these new technical marvels will command a higher price than current models is uncertain. However, new technology tends to be accompanied by premium prices. Stay tuned.