2008 Forecast: Mobile, the hottest tech to invest in

Mobile web and and digital media are high on the investment agenda of Intel Capital. According to Ashish Patel, MD of Intel Capital UK, Intel is really bullish about the internet going mobile. But… ZDNet/CNet gave a rather negative interpretation after their round-table discussion with Ashish Patel. Fewer European start-ups are getting funded. PaidContent:UK completely converted that into a ‘Slow Down of the Euro VC market.’

A quick chat with Johnny Waterschoot, EMEA marketing at Intel Capital, gave me a complete different perspective, insisting to publish the exact quote as following: "There is a trend of less start-ups getting funded on one side, while on the other side more money is invested in those, which get selected. At the same time the overall amount of investments remains on the same level."

What does it mean for Mobiya and start-ups in the overall mobile tech market? It is about making sure to stay in the deal-flow of a broad group of VC’s. Deals will get scarce in 2008, also due to a 2008 recesion, but the amounts invested will give startups more time and money to see if their ideas would work.

2008 Forecast: Generation Y wants m-commerce now!

Generation Y isnt just leaving parents behind when it comes to shopping using their mobile phones. Retailers too, are struggling to keep up with them. USA Today has an in-depth look at the shopping habits of digital millennials, as this age group is being called, who want the ability now to search for an item on their phone and to buy it.

What will drive m-commerce in 2008?

• Text promotions – driving mobile marketing
• Mobile coupons – driving a call to action and buying
• Mobile search – driving comparison of products and shops
• Mobile social networks – driving peer opinions for shopping

Different perspectives quoting:

• a marketing expert: Generation Y expect "on-demand experiences!"
• a 16-year-old kid: "I have a computer in my room, but I’m not usually home."
• a mobile executive: "Many teens rarely use e-mail, favoring text messaging…"

It is clear that text messaging or sms and Mobiya’s focus on text messaging to stimulate buying and selling, anywhere, anytime, combined with our opt-in and real-time sms inventory that drives text message marketing campaigns will generate the necessary traffic for viable m-commerce. Mobiya’s early adoption of mobile payments will allow Mobiya to convert the sms traffic into direct payments.

2008 Forecast: the future and evolution of SMS: value-added services and WAP

Excellent opinion article from Mike Hawks, m-commerce director of the Mobile Data Association, concering the future of SMS:

Quote 1 "in my opinion SMS is likely to evolve and close the gap between plain SMS as we know it today and what WAP has promised to become." Mobiya’s System 1 is driving traffic to WAP portals by inserting WAP links into the contents of its dialogue. The industry call this ‘Mobile Advertising’ we call this bottom-line traffic generation!

Quote 2 "Recent research conducted by Informa Telecoms & Media estimated that mobile operators are missing out on about £2.5 billion per year from lost opportunities in value-added SMS messaging. Why do operators and business fail to see the potential of SMS as a revenue generating tool?" No comments!

2008 Forecast: over 2 Trillion SMS in 2008: mobile advertising needed for further growth

2.3 trillion SMS will be sent in major markets worldwide in 2008, Gartner predicts. That’s up nearly 20 percent from 2007, while messaging revenues will grow about 16 percent to $60.2 billion.

• North America will see significant growth, with Gartner saying more than 300 billion messages will be sent in 2008, up from a predicted 189 billion this year.
• In Western Europe, though, growth is slowing, and the firm says that person-to-person SMS revenues there may peak to 215 billion in 2008, thanks to price cuts and message bundles.
• Asia/Pacific and Japan are the biggest consumers of mobile messaging, an estimated 1.5 trillion in 2007.

Gartner concludes that operators should look to social-networking services to drive traffic, as well as mobile search and mobile advertising. Important statement from Gartner in favor for Mobiya’s business: "most carriers are poorly placed to support the end-to-end campaign management and reporting requirements of media buyers and advertisers." This is probably a position for Mobiya and its Mobiya System 1 to drive mobile ads into the Trillions of SMS messages.

ICMA organizes essential interactive search workshop for classified media managers

The International Classified Media Association organizes its first event of 2008, the Search Lab, or everything you ever wanted to know about search but were afraid to ask: 21-22 February 2008, in Amsterdam. More information here.

2nDimension agrees contract with News International for mobile voucher service

Good example how other mobile media companies make similar deals as Mobiya with operators and newspaper companies to introduce an innovative service such as 2 dimensional barcodes. Thumbs up 2nd Dimension. Read the full story ‘O2 launches mobile voucher service for newspaper‘ or download the press release.