Is The Future of the Internet Mobile?

Just as 2010 begins, it seems that the war of the titans Apple, Google and Microsoft has been moved to a new frontline – mobile phones.

Google have just launched their new touch-screen Android phone, which could shake up the fundamentals of the cellphone market with most phones working only on the networks that sold them.

The company, using the power of its brand, plans to market and sell the new phone directly to consumers over the Internet. Buyers would be able to sign up for network service from any compatible provider.

Most importantly, according to Mario Queiroz, Google vice president of Android project management, Google’s new smartphone is “where web meets phone”.

In Japan, a country that has always been fond of technology and innovation, smart phones and gadgets have been playing an important part in Japanese consumers’ lives for a long time. According to the New York Times, evolution of Japanese smartphones saw email capabilities in 1999, camera phones in 2000, third-generation networks in 2001, full music downloads in 2002, electronic payments in 2004 and digital TV in 2005! Today, the smart phones market in Japan sees much larger numbers than in the US or Europe, and many Japanese users rely on their phones not a PC for Internet access.

Back at home, it is said that the number of Britons browsing the web on mobile phones increased to 10.4 million in Q3 2009. Downloading applications was the second-fastest-growing activity, rising by one million users to 4.1 million in Q3.

The evidence suggests that the mobile Internet, already a way of life in some parts of the World, is the next step in the Internet’s evolution and user interaction. Companies and their products will find it easier to reach a customer’s pockets (quite literally) through their smartphones and customers, in turn, will have improved interaction with sales staff through web mobile-based applications (such as call backs, or sat nav maps).

However, according to E-consultancy, full realization and integration of mobile advertising is still a way off. A large proportion (41%) of companies are not planning any investment at all on mobile in 2010, with a further 49% planning only limited investment. Only 11% are planning to invest significantly but this increases significantly for the largest companies.

Whether mobile Internet is the next big investment for companies to use for advertising or generating return on investment is yet to be proven. However, the potential for reaching customers on an individual level via mobile Internet cannot be matched. The mobile internet, sitting literally in your customers hands and pockets is an extremely personal use of the web and allows businesses to better target customers individually and one that companies really cannot afford to ignore for much longer.

An analysis of the Google, Microsoft and Apple phones from a financial perspective (CNBC, USA):