Perhaps we've already had the year of mobile

A week after Nokia reported a 96% drop in profits, Apple, rapidly becoming its closest rival, posted record results (nma.co.uk 23 April).

While comparisons between the two manufacturers’ devices have been made ad infinitum, the bigger picture is often overlooked. As the incumbent manufacturers have battled to compete against Apple by introducing a wider range of feature-rich handsets with good functionality, a mass-market tipping point for content and services has gradually been reached.

And, of course, Apple itself has been shipping 42,000 iPhones into the market every day.

You hear very little talk these days of a lack of availability of phones which can support rich content and services. This used to be a standard industry excuse, along with the lack of flat-rate data plans and operator walled gardens. Yet Stephen Upstone, MD of AdInfuse, speculated to me at Mobile World Congress last year that we’ve already had the much-touted year of mobile. He believes it occurred last year with the introduction of the iPhone and App Store, which did more for educating both consumers and marketers than any amount of enthusiastic ‘knocking on doors’ by mobile agencies could ever have achieved

Recently a friend was telling me excitedly about music recognition service Shazam, which is nothing new in the industry but has only been driven to mainstream consumer awareness by Apple. With its simple-to-understand user experience and clear marketing, Apple has opened the floodgates, backed by its rivals, for services to reach the mainstream.

Source: http://www.nma.co.uk/perhaps-weve-already-had-the-year-of-mobile/3000315.article