Berg Insight predicts that in Western markets the mobile internet will evolve from the fixed internet, as PC users cross over to the new media, rather than as an independent entity.
There is only one internet and its users do not accept boundaries imposed by devices or networks. People expect and demand to get a similar experience from an application regardless if they use a desktop PC, a netbook or a smartphone for access.
Berg Insight believes that established internet services, cleverly adapted for and ported to mobile, will eventually lead to mainstream mobile services and applications.
Companies that offer familiar and interoperable applications on well-designed devices with transparent pricing will succeed in getting consumers to cross over to the mobile media. Cellular operators and content aggregators need to rethink their strategies to stay relevant. In the discussion about who owns the customer the most important thing to remember is that customers own the internet more than anyone else.
The report predicts that the first applications to reach a mobile mass market will be those that exploit crossover recognition by offering seamless access to popular fixed services. The groundbreakers will be those that integrate inherit differentiators of surfing-on-the-go such as instant response times, personalisation, location and efficiency in presentation.
The challenge for service developers and providers will be to design, package and introduce mobile-specific features, such as context-sensitivity, so that they become a natural and easily accepted evolution of online communication. To achieve this demands a deep understanding of how users communicate and how they interact with each other and mobile technology.
Sabine Ehlers, associate analyst, Berg Insight