Mobile Application Stores: Winning from the winner
Mobile Application Stores(MAS) are the latest trend in the mobile communications industry. Mobile service providers and handset providers across the globe are busy jumping into the MAS bandwagon. Gartner predicts $6.2 Billion sales through MAS in 2010, and that is an appealing number for the service providers. Consumers are vigorously exploring application download options available through MAS -- let it be mobile shopping, social networking, mobile utilities, or productivity tools.
The emergence of more MAS implies one fact -- the consumer has clearly emerged as the 'winner' in the market. Consumers now have the options to select the applications according to their likes and dislikes. This situation might induce commoditization at a much earlier stage of the market lifecycle. Price war in the market will urge MAS providers to seek more sponsorship revenues in order to keep the prices down. The operators might face the dilemma of keeping the profits rising, all the while keeping the competitive aggression up.
Some key capabilities of the service providers will matter a lot in this situation. Service providers will now have to gain the ability to price the applications aggressively, based on multiple parameters. Smart and effective settlement with content providers/aggregators and sponsors will also hold the key. Customer and partner loyalty will also be vital in the highly competitive market. Hence, capabilities to create and manage loyalty will also be very important in improving the competitive performance.
Customer is clearly the winner in MAS market. Winning from the winner is the art the service providers would have to master, in order to tap the multi-billion opportunity that stands awaiting.