Smartphones: Expanding Mobile Search Opportunities
by Tim LaGrone ~ June 25th, 2009. Filed under: Emerging Trends & Tech.
Over the past couple weeks there has been a bit of excitement around the new iPhone and the resurgence of Palm with the release of the Palm Pre.
The Palm Pre is being looked at by some as Palm’s savior as it’s their first device equipped to compete with the heavyweights of today since the days of the Treo 600 & 700 models. The Pre boasts a full HTML browser, email access, GPS, WIFI access, music, video and a host of other features on Palm’s new Linux derived operating system. Analysts are forecasting about 100,000 units were sold in the first weekend of its launch.
The new iPhone 3GS is a an expansion of the previous model (iPhone 3G) with some new features such as video recording/editing, voice control, larger storage, and an upgrade to the processor making it two times faster than the previous model. Apple has reported a million plus sales of the new phone since its launch this past weekend. The new 3GS is available for $199 and the 3G model is now being offered for $99.
T-Mobile has reached in their bag of tricks and announced their 2nd Android device scheduled to be released July 8th, 2009. This new device is very similar to the G1 but drops the keyboard allowing for a smaller size similar to its competition, the phone will be available for $199.
How will mobile search advertising be impacted?
Out of the 232,000,000 U.S. mobile subscribers, 11% are smartphone users according to the latest report from M:Metrics (April 2009). The 11% of smartphone users account for 41% of all mobile search accessed in the U.S. These figures are not hard to believe since smartphone users do not have the same limitations as users of standard mobile devices, such as smaller screens, slow processing, and capabilities to view video and etc. Mobile advertising opportunities will continue to grow with smartphone adoption in the coming years as consumers trade in their standard devices for smartphones. Parks and Associates is forecasting that North America smartphone users will grow from the 62 million in 2008 to 239 million in 2013 (Parks and Associates Parks Associates, “Mobile Advertising: Analysis and Forecast” as cited in press release, June 16, 2009). Today price is becoming less of an issue as companies of these smartphones vie for the attention of consumers. Smartphone prices are the most affordable they have ever been, for example the iPhone is now being offered for a price many paid for the Motorola Razr when it was “the hot phone” a couple years ago.
The iPhone has not only taught the masses that more can be done with a mobile phone besides text and voice but encouraged them to do it often. Other companies have taken note of the consumers desire to do more with their phones and are moving in the right direction with some of the new smartphones on the market. Smartphone technology growth and accessibility will directly affect the future of mobile advertising.
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