Summary
With carriers revenue expectations not being met…
Today, wireless carriers are struggling to deliver the kind business performance
that was expected just a couple of years back. In brief, debt is high, confidence is
low, market growth has stalled and wireless services are becoming a commodity.
The early growth phases for the industry, when they found a way to sell wireless
cheap and promote the cult of handset personalisation, have now ended
…the mobile phone user interface is poised to become the new growth catalyst…
Fortunately, a new growth phase is about to start, where the handset user interface
(UI) will be king. This phenomena is already evident; Motorola is now uniquely
tailoring the software that drives the UI of its handsets for the largest carriers in the
world, a number of middleware companies are marketing their own platforms that
sit on top of the resident operating systems of handsets, while the best of the
Graphical User Interface (GUI) elements from the PC (especially the Mac) world,
are being transplanted into the user interface of a mobile phone device.
…and usher in a new business model for the industry
The paper presents the case that this development is not simply a temporary fad, a
dressing up of the handset in some new clothes until more important matters like a
3G launch can be justified. Instead the paper lays out a new business model that
demonstrates how if mobile operators embrace a new business strategy; that of
developing easier-to-use interfaces for their subscriber's phones, then this can
drive up individual ARPU and loyalty. And even more importantly, lead to the
creation of a new class of person-to-person applications that will kick start
penetration growth and deliver a long-term uplift in revenue.
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