DISQUS

shonzilla · 8 months ago

Wow! Year 2009 is definitely going to be the year when smartphone market will blow up, in a good way that is. As devices become more useful, more buzz gets created, social media is mainstream for some time now and, consequently, device manufacturers and mobile/wireless operators are required to fight for user attention.

However, mobile networks are still closed to applications (VoIP mostly) that are disrupting their business model. How will that the disruption finally happen? Will it be the first-mover operator releasing it's own VoIP mobile app or the fierce competition coupled with heightened community interest will force a mobile operator to allow wireless data to travel freely over their infrastructure?

Matthäus, when do you think?

Cheers!
Shonzilla

matthaus · 8 months ago

Merill Lynch and Morgan Stanley think that this disruption will not happen in the next 2 years. Things appear to get more tricky, though. There have been some very pragmatical debates around voice/data business models at this year's Mobile World Congress and some folks think that there will be industry fights around this as early as in 3-6 months.

To me the Skype iPhone app is speeding up this issue. I will share my views on it with my next post. In contrast to most tech blog commentators I'm not sure that the likely success of the Skype iPhone is good for startups.

shonzilla · 8 months ago

I agree, 2 years a period much too long for impatient and increasingly demanding mobile users. Moore's Law has entered the mobile device ecosystem and "things" are bound to happen.

With open-source mobile platforms like Android and Symbian, and applications that can be easily downloaded and installed, it will be hard for mobile operators to counter the interests of their customers.

You're also right that Skype on iPhone makes it less attractive for startups to enter mobile VoIP market niche. Perhaps open-source VoIP software ported to one of the open-source mobile platforms could change that.

Cheers!
Shonzilla

matthaus · 8 months ago

You are right on spot in seeing a shift of power in the mobile eco system due to the rise of apps. Many folks assume that the rise of apps - and the related startups - will continue. So did I until this year's Mobile World Congress. What I'm wondering about now, though, if apps have made mobile operators more powerful. Again, I will share my views in the next post.

shonzilla · 8 months ago

I'm curious about current sweet spots in mobile software markets so I will be eagerly waiting for the follow-up post by subscribing to your FriendFeed stream.

Cheers!
Shonzilla

Gadget Sleuth · 8 months ago

I love the "idea" of Android, but the OS itself needs more work and polishing before it'll be ready for primetime alongside iPhone and Blackberry. Open Source is a good thing to push the other carriers to give us more choices, though.

EstherRolle · 8 months ago

I wish Google and T-Mobile had made significant improvements to the G1 before they started hyping up the G2. I'm actually sorry that I drank the Kool-Aid. The G1 was a supreme disappointment.

Ryanmf · 8 months ago

Wake me up when we have some hardware specs on the Memphis, the only device on the roadmap that looks to provide a meaningful update to the Dream/G1.

And yes, I'm aware Memphis hasn't been officially announced as an Android phone (it hasn't been officially acknowledged at all, actually), but with the trackball and that chin I'll be very surprised if it isn't.