Each week the MEF team curates mobile stories from around the world. Essential news, the latest market insight & data nuggets, the Global News Round-up offers an instant international mobile content and commerce snapshot.
Mobile phones are more addictive than crack cocaine. That’s my reading of the stats anyway. More phone connections than babies born, more mobiles than toothbrushes, we look at our mobiles more than 150 times a day – yada yada. You’ve been to the presentations.
Media types get excited about these stats. I don’t. Not any more. The world is mobile. The year of mobile has actually arrived – so let’s stop talking about it. Let’s start talking about what this incredible transformation means. What it tells us about the people we serve and our strategies to service them. This is what I think it means.
Last week, it came out that China Mobile and Apple had finally penned a deal to bring the iPhone to China’s largest mobile network, and now the Wall Street Journal reports that iPhone 5s pre-order sales begin this Thursday, with China Mobile’s new 4G services going live on Dec. 18.
If you were one of those people who thought that the iPad was a giant, pointless version of the iPhone, chances are you’ve changed your mind recently. The global tablet market has exploded over the past few years, finding applications in areas of life even Steve Jobs couldn’t have dreamed of. Like all big technology form factors however, its growth will inevitably slow down. Indeed, technology research house IDC reckons that tablet growth could slow to single digit figures by 2017.
Have you ever noticed how everyone you know has “Candy Crush Saga” and at least one variation of “Angry Birds” on their phone? The rise of free apps supported by in-app purchases has led to a seemingly exponential growth in the number and reach of games made for Android, iPhone, and other smartphone platforms. This year, app developers will bring in $26 billion in revenue from app stores. In 2017, that number is expected to hit $77 billion.
Mobile consumers will be the “disruptors” in the financial services market by increasing their use of purpose-built apps that provide focused value, while minimizing their interactions with their primary institution, predicts market research firm IDC. At the same time, mobile payment adoption will be slow next year because providers are having trouble finding a “value proposition” that is attractive to both consumers and merchants.
As more Gen Y consumers begin to pay their own bills, the number of mobile bill payment users has doubled, according to a new report from Fiserv. Fiserv’s “2013 Billing Household Survey” shows that the number of mobile bill payment users has increased from 8 million to 16 million in the last year. Additionally, one in four tablet owners use the device to pay bills.
Even though 78 per cent of enterprises have some for of mobile strategy, 86 per cent fail to use its capabilities to evolve their business to benefit from the technology, reveals Mobile Helix. Plus, only 14 per cent that do use the technology actually use it to drive revenue and create new streams of income.
Microlenders plan to use mobile banking to disburse funds and reduce the cost of operations. Through mobile banking accounts, lenders will sanction funds and borrowers will be able to repay instalments, said Abul Kashem Md Shirin, deputy managing director of Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd.
In 2012, 36% of advertising spend in the UK was on digital. This is up from 19% in 2007. This statistic comes from OFCOM’s 2013 International Communications Market Report, revealed today. The UK also spends a higher share of its advertising budget on digital than the rest of the world.
39 per cent of mobile ad spend is coming from new budgets, according to a survey of agency staff for the latest annual IAB Mobile Snapshot. Although another 43 per cent of more than 300 people surveyed said mobile spend is being taken from other areas, the IAB’s head of mobile, Alex Kozloff, said the increasing willingness to set money aside shows that the channel is going from ‘strength to strength’.
Global News Round-up – These articles are not written by MEF and do not represent any views of individuals, members or the organisation.
