The global market for Mobile Web 2.0 will be worth $22.4 Billion in 2013,
up from $5.5 Billion currently, according to a new report by Juniper
Research. Embracing social networking & User Generated Content
(UGC), mobile search and mobile IM (Instant Messaging), Mobile Web 2.0
provides a framework for delivery of collaborative applications,
further enhanced and contextualised via LBS (Location Based Services).
In its latest report - ‘Mobile Web
2.0: Leveraging ‘Location, IM, Social Web & Search’ - Juniper
examines how a fundamental shift in Internet usage patterns is shaping
Mobile Web development, driving subscriber adoption and forcing
structural changes within the industry. At the core of this evolution
is the user as a creator and consumer of content (i.e. the prosumer),
and the ‘social web’ - which describes a wide variety of social
computing tools enabling users to develop detailed Web identities,
create online communities and communicate with like-minded individuals
“Combining the power of the social network map - namely: ‘who I
know, how I know and where I know’ - with that of mobility, presents
the greatest opportunity for revenue generation of any of the
applications as defined within Juniper’s Mobile Web 2.0 framework,”
states Ian Chard, Juniper Research Analyst and author of the new
report. “The phone is carried with us most of the time and contains a
huge amount of personal data, making it a logical extension for the
social network and a host of other collaborative Web 2.0 applications
being mobilised.”
Other findings from the report:
- Total global revenues for mobile social networking/UGC will rocket
from $1.8bn in 2008, to $11.2bn in 2013, accounting for 50% of the
market, while growth in mobile search and mobile IM will be more
measured.
- Service revenues will account for the lion’s-share of total Mobile
Web 2.0 revenues, although mobile advertising represents a significant
opportunity.
- Far East & China, Western Europe and North America dominate the
global market for Mobile Web 2.0, but will be surpassed by the
developing regions over the forecast period
Fresh Challenges
Despite the new opportunities for players across
the value chain, Mobile Web 2.0 creates fresh challenges over and above
those typically associated with mobilising Internet applications. MNOs
must adjust to advertising-sponsored strategies and accommodate
partnerships with Web-based players, while device manufacturers and
technology vendors must somehow find the means to stitch together what
is at present, a highly-fragmented market. Any player in Social Web is
also subject to regulatory measures concerning privacy and data
retention.
Juniper Research assesses the current and future status of the
Mobile Web 2.0 market based on interviews, case studies and analysis
from representatives of some of the organizations leading this growing
market.