Johannesburg, 23 Feb 2011
The 80s... big hair, loud clothing and a time when your digital wrist watch defined who you were. Today, it is not so much your watch that defines you, but the mobile device or devices you carry.
The introduction of the notebook in the 90s started what most refer to as the mobile computing revolution. But mobile computing has always been about a year-and-a-half behind the PC platform when it came to computing power. Back then, these mobile computers were also bulky, expensive and didn`t have much of a battery life.
That`s definitely changed. Advances in technology have catapulted mobile computing. Laptops now come out with the same computing power as desktop computers, plus a few advantages; they are smaller and more portable. In short, these mobile devices have made it to the list of sexy accessories you "must have".
There once was a time when people would carry both a laptop and a mobile telephone. Now we`re starting to notice that more and more people are doing more and more of their browsing on their smartphones. And what people used to do on their laptops they are now doing on their smartphones - from checking e-mails and socialising to reading documents.
Why? It`s simple. Smartphones are essentially computers with phone capabilities. But what`s really helped the adoption of smartphones is the fact that businesses have become more mobile friendly, being more open to the type of applications they run.
2009 was the year of the smartphone, more specifically the iPhone. 2010 was the year of Android. The iPhone took pressure in terms of sales performance from devices supporting the Android platform. The explosion of smartphone and pad devices on this platform will continue well into in 2011.
Given this, then this year looks to be the year where smartphones and pads will create increasing pressure on laptop sales, and where laptop sales will continue to place pressure on desktop sales.
This will predominantly be driven through advances in battery technology, expansion of the Android and Windows mobile platforms as well as the increased availability of smart mobile applications. This trend will further be driven by the availability of communications technologies such as WiMax/4G and security products for mobile devices.
In addition to the commercial upside in revenue directly related to the abovementioned technologies, mobile advertising will become more than a fad, but rather a significant revenue and business opportunity moving forward.
At the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas, big news in smartphones has been Google`s Nexus One Android phone. Touted to be an "iPhone killer", an uptake of the operating system within the business market is anticipated and a corresponding rise in the number of third-party applications available for the platform is expected to continue.
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