Tag Archives: marketing

CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE

Comments 0
August 19, 2011

On Monday, Google announced it had bought Motorola development division Mobility for a staggering £7.7 billion. The deal comes seven months after Motorola split the business into two; Mobility that develops and manufactures mobile phones, and Motorola Solutions that covers wider technologies for corporate customers and government.

As a result of the acquisition Google will own all 17,000 technology patents that Motorola currently has the rights to. Essentially, this means that if another mobile system wants to use that technology they have to pay Google for the right to do so.

Recently Microsoft has been openly critical of Google and the handsets that use Android as an operating system – particularly HTC – as these handsets use Microsoft’s patent technology and therefore pays Microsoft every time an Android phone is sold.

So where does this purchase and associated legal issues, leave the rest of the mobile phone market? Apple, Blackberry and Microsoft have huge advantages in this space, as all own proprietary handset and operating systems. Android, despite its rapid growth, is an open source platform (used by handsets such as HTC and Samsung) and had been at a disadvantage for not owning a handset (and patents) to accompany the operating system to escalate it to the ‘iconic’ status that the iphone has attained. This could well now change.

Google intends to run Motorola as a separate business and to ‘Supercharge Android’ (according to Larry Page, Google CEO), whilst still keeping it as an open platform for other handsets to use. With the Motorola patents, mobile handset technology, Android operating system and the highest smartphone penetration in the UK, it like Google will be providing Apple with some serious competition! This could even reduce market domination by the iPhone – providing Google gets the handsets right.

The move really has has also shaken up the mobile industry and rumours are spreading about Microsoft acquiring Nokia for its patents and technology and Google looking at buying Blackberry for the addition penetration in the UK market. However, from where What’s Hot is standing Google has got an opportunity to dominate the market in the next year or so even without acquiring Blackberry. Exciting times ahead for the global mobile market indeed.

 

Comment
Posted by the7stars

Little by Little

Comments 0
July 25, 2011

This week sees the release of the Absolute Radio app on the Apple and Android operating systems. While ‘company releases app’ isn’t shocking news per se, it brings us nicely to a quick review of what’s happening, available and working well in the mobile space.

Mobile commerce is moving into the mainstream. As of June this year, 36% of Brits were using smartphones. With this comes a boom in mobile advertising. In 2011, eBay is expecting to generate $4 billion through its mobile proposition. The UK buys more vehicles and fashion via eBay mobile than any other product category. Other major retailers such as French Connection and New Look have invested heavily in m-commerce and this is notable against the backdrop of a declining high street.

The phenomenon of group deals is also flourishing thanks to mobile. Check-ins are fairly obvious: a café signs up to Facebook deals, for example, and users who check in to a specific branch get a half-price coffee. It gets more interesting when users are purchasing and redeeming vouchers from the likes of Groupon, LivingSocial, etc. through mobile devices. Any group deal app will need to display latest deals within the immediate vicinity of a user’s handset. This means local commerce is changing as is users hunger for local offers.

Users are responding to mobile ads. According to comScore, 28.8% of European mobile owners use their phone regularly for online browsing. Crucially, users are more responsive to mobile display ads than desktop or laptop banners. MediaMind reviewed more than 230 million mobile impressions including both mobile and browser, compared results and found that mobile banners recorded click through rates  nearly eight times higher.

This is in part explained by mobile banners occupying a larger proportion of the screen and often being the only ad on the page. But throw into the mix rich media streaming in video content and there’s no doubt that mobile banners can prove highly effective at encouraging click through or user interaction.

Mobile now offers so much more than banners. It is becoming as sophisticated as other more established digital channels and, as ever, technology is the driver. What’s HOT sees mobile as the natural platform for local and increasingly targeted ads.

Read more

Comment
Posted by the7stars