Anyone that’s sat and talked to me about mobile will know that in Japan and parts of Europe, smart phones are fast becoming the number one point of access for Internet usage for some users. Certainly when I was in the UK this was definitely the case for me.
According to new research this week, sales of Smart Phones are set to outstrip those for Notebook computers within the next 12 - 18 months.
Nokia is already technically the biggest seller of MP3 players and digital cameras globally. Consider that they shifted 200m camera phones and nearly 150m music playing phones LAST YEAR ALONE. Even with the success of the iPod, Apple isn’t even in the same league, having sold it’s 100 millionth iPod last year after being in market for 6 years.
The power of the device is playing a key role with reasonable spec processors now sitting on the hardware that are capable of doing “tasks” rather than just system level processing. Additionally the always on, ultra high speed networks in Japan and Europe coupled with elements like GPS positional data are creating a whole range of applications originally only dreamt of.
Nokia’s recent purchase of Symbian (the largest manufacturer of OS software for mobiles) and subsequent Open Sourcing coupled with Google’s recent foray into Android OS for mobile show how much future exists in this market.
With plummeting data costs in Australia, along with low costs of consumer electronics, we may be joining the ranks of Europeans and Japanese who are able to do things whilst on the move.
Check out the BBC report