The reach of mobile technology is increasing at an unprecedented pace. Opera Software released it latest “State of the Mobile Web Report” http://www.opera.com/smw/2010/02/. There are a number of very interesting data points that businesses need to consider.
A point of real interest to business is that 50.5 million people used the Opera Mini Browser accounting for 26% of the market. One mobile browser alone, Opera Mini, accounts for 50.5 million people. Think of the potential impact this has on your business. Now consider the reach of other mobile browsers on the market iPhone at 20.57%, Nokia 16.53%, BlackBerry 12.25% and Android growing at 5.83%. These are incredible statistics.
Why is this important to business? It’s important because this data demonstrates that a significant portion of mobile business, research, communications, reservations and purchases are driven over the Internet and a growing percentage using a mobile browser.
Consider further the following
- 1.2 Billion smart phones were sold in 2009
- Internet Web Page views since February 2009 grew 154.9% **
- Unique user growth since February 2009 grew 103.4% **
Cleary the mobile trend reflects growth in both personal and business use. As Internet connectivity and mobile usage has become more ubiquitous across the globe your ability to drive business communication has increased. Pondering the impact of these numbers I wonder, when is the last time a business management team held a strategy meeting to develop a plan to leverage mobile technology to improve their business?
Business areas you might focus on include:
- Field Service
- Inspections
- Account Management
- Inventory Management
- Sales Lead activity, reporting and management
The beauty is that these business areas are inter-related. Businesses don’t have to eat the whole elephant. They can start with a small business segment – usually the one with most pain – and build from that starting point.
Businesses often speak in terms of “when” the time is right we’ll make our move. Well the time is here and quickly moving forward. Question is where are you in responding? Ahead of the wave, frantically paddling to catch up or oblivious to the fact your about to get run over?
Author; Jody Sedrick, CEO Zenware
**Source, Opera State of the Mobile Web, February 2010