2009 Trend: Mobile Revolution Is Now

From mobile services to mobile search and everything in between, the untethering of society continues to be at the heart of one of the biggest trends for 2009 – Mobile.

The lines are blurring between on-the-move mobile and in-office fixed-line communications.

Mobile phones are so deeply embedded into our work lives now that many of us instinctively use them as a first port of call for a business contact, rather than trying to reach them by landline. According to estimates from Vodafone and 3, close to 60% of calls from business PABX phone systems are to mobiles.

As businesses continue to rely on mobile as the backbone for the majority of corporate communication, the exact same trend is taking grip of our personal lives. The smartphone is trailblazing the transformation from mobile phone to mobile computer and stoking an increasingly voracious market appetite to consume media on the go.

The updated sales and forecast report also shows consumers are turning to smartphones as their mobile phone of choice. Smartphone revenues will continue to grow this year, increasing nearly 20 percent this year, to $13.6 billion. As carriers increase the speed of their networks and offer new services in addition to communication, smartphones will account for more than 60 percent of total handset revenues.

Once the consumer acquires the handset, it all comes down to usage.

…owning the customer will be the name of the game, and vendors will do that by providing an ecosystem of hardware, software, and services.

Perhaps the real key here are ‘services’. Mobile services will be a big focal point for 2009. Everything we do on the tethered web will migrate to the mobile web, from social networking to search to watching video. As smartphones evolve they become more location-aware and inter-connected to the grid, further opening the door for innovative services that will change our behaviour in the real world.

The proportion of U.S. mobile subscribers who access social networks on their cell phones nearly tripled to almost 10% over a year ago, according to a consumer study by The Kelsey Group and ConStat…By 2012, eMarketer projects that more than 800 million users worldwide will participate in social networks via their mobile device, up from 82 million in 2007.

15.6% of mobile users used their phones to search the Web for local products and services, compared to 9.8% a year ago. And 14.3% searched outside their local area, up from 6.4%.

When it comes to media consumption, 8.4% watched a music video or other type of Internet video on mobile devices–nearly double the 4.4% from 2007.

The mobile revolution is a global phenomenon and trend for 2009. India steamrolled past the United States in 2008 and is now the 2nd largest mobile market in the world behind China.

The mobile trend is poised to be an enduring spark of opportunity and innovation despite the dim economic horizon.

Consumer Electronics Industry Issues 2009 Forecast
Total Smartphone Domination
Mobile search rising in popularity
Study: Almost 10% On Social Networks Via Mobile
Mobile moves centre stage
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