Mobile Execs Talk 2010 Market Outlook

A group of mobile executives gave their outlook on the industry this year, saying the biggest opportunities for growth will be in mobile advertising, mobile billing, and making apps for the new iPad.

By Avery Fellow | April 9, 2010

A panel of mobile executives from the mid-Atlantic region gathered at the Ritz in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia earlier this month to talk about the mobile industry outlook in 2010. According to panelists, a big focus for the industry this year is dealing with fragmentation, or building apps across multiple platforms, and creating apps for the new iPad.

The most popular platforms for mobile apps right now are Android and the iPhone, panelists reported, and soon will be the iPad, which Apple is releasing April 3.

"Apple showed the world the beauty of the ecosystem," said Daniel Odio, co-founder and chief operating officer of PointAbout Inc., a mobile developer behind the Washington Post and Newsweek apps.

"The challenge is to deliver that iPhone experience across multiple device platforms," said Matt Jones, mobile strategist for Gannett Digital and former mobile director at USA Today.

"The customer expectation now is at a much different place than five years ago," Jones said. "They want a very rich, engaging, fast, high performance experience –that’s where the game has really changed. A few years back, customers may have been happy with a simple text-messaging program."

But Odio said there is still a need to fill the texting space. "The most popular phone right now is still the Razor," Odio said. "A huge percentage of the market is in SMS and mobile Web. The SMS piece isn’t sexy, but it gets the job done."

SMS is part of the three-tiered mobile pyramid, which includes SMS/texting, the mobile Web, and mobile apps. Odio said he has yet to see a company that offers services in all three areas of the mobile pyramid and said there is room for companies to develop themselves as total solution providers for mobile. 

There are also growing opportunities in the mobile billing space. According to Kevin Bertram, CEO of Distributive Networks, a mobile content management company, mobile billing "has traditionally been an ugly space," but it is changing.

"Mobile giving is causing carriers to rethink some of their strategies," Bertram said, including the ability to buy physical goods via a phone. "As the phone becomes more of a wallet, opportunities will open up in the retail space."

"The mobile advertising market is expected to double or triple this year," Jones said.

When asked the profile of an ideal mobile developer, Maurice McKenzie, founder and president of YadaHome, a social network for parents, said "90 percent of it is will."

"Two years ago I was a research analyst," McKenzie said. McKenzie doesn’t have a technical coding background, but he was able to get a team together and address the market need. "You will get it right with the will. You will absolutely get it right," McKenzie said.

Michael Sanford, founder and president of Flipside5, whose company’s air hockey game received more than 1 million downloads in the first 10 days, was also an unlikely candidate for the mobile space.

"I’m not a game guy," Sanford said. "I got into games to keep my 3-year-old entertained in the back of the car. It found me. But casual gaming is a very compelling space. There are lots of female users – not your traditional Halo players," Sanford said.

In addition to marketing mobile products to consumers, the market for mobile in the enterprise space will expand as more businesses want to take part in mobile.  "There will be a lot of opportunities for B2B and enterprise, not just consumers," Jones said.



Related Keywords : mobile technology , apps

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