Mobile messaging provider, Airwide Solutions commission a survey into the
rise of mobile applications and services which shows that despite the
consumer enthusiasm for mobile applications, operators could risk
failure if they try to replicate the model pioneered by Apple.
The
study, which was conducted by the independent analyst house
mobileSQUARED on behalf of Airwide Solutions revealed overwhelming
enthusiasm for the App Store concept with all operators questioned
planning to keep a degree of control in their own app store
environments.
The survey demonstrated a split between those who expect
to directly control less than 10% of the apps and services launched
(45%), and those who plan to control 20-30% (36%). However, this
dynamic could significantly increase the amount of fragmentation that
application developers and publishers will need to address if they want
to deploy services across multiple operators and on multiple handsets.
Until real standards evolve operators need a consistent platform to be
able to roll-out enhanced applications and services.
The survey also revealed that
operators believe that relevancy - or the lack thereof - is the most
important factor in creating a successful app store, with 55% ranking
it the biggest factor in a successful download. By enhancing mobile
applications with their unique assets, context and intelligence while
minimizing cost and without disruption to the existing infrastructure,
Airwide’s Open Services Framework can help operators can realize
significant cost savings, jump-start additional revenue generation and
play a more significant role in mobile data services.
Cost was also cited as a major factor by 18% of respondents, and a
number of operators also said that effective marketing is also crucial
for the success of the app store model. The marketing campaign by
Apple, which focuses on how to discover and download applications to
the iPhone, was seen as an example of how good marketing can overcome
many of the education issues faced by operators when launching new
services.
Clearly education is indeed an important factor which must be
addressed as a separate survey of mobile subscribers conducted by
mobileSQUARED also revealed a lack of widespread awareness for the app
store concept. Only 24% of respondents knew what an app store was:
however, when the benefits of an app store-like experience were
explained, over 50% of respondents said they would want to have an app
store accessible from their phone.
The survey, which asked 1000 UK
mobile subscribers their opinions on the app store concept, shows that
there is clear demand from consumers for applications from operators
beyond the current triumvirate of games, music and video. However, with
less than 25% of UK subscribers currently owning a high-end handset or
Smartphone, one of the major challenges faced by operators in the short
term will be how they can deliver an app store experience to
mass-market handsets.
In order to address the increasing need for a broad universe of
mobile applications to work seamlessly across devices, platforms and
networks Airwide Solutions has launched its Open Services Framework.
The rise of the app store model depends on robust and powerful
messaging infrastructure, which can efficiently support multiple media
types while remaining flexible enough to enable the rapid rollout of
new services that use location, presence, subscriber profiles, the
mobile Internet or any other of a range of operator assets to enhance
their functionality.
Airwide’s Open Services Framework represents the
latest phase of the evolution away from existing monolithic messaging
infrastructure, and has been designed to enable operators to use
network intelligence on messaging and browsing, location, user
profiling, presence, security, micropayments and more to create and
enhance high quality, relevant applications without disrupting existing
infrastructure. It is designed to work across multiple networks and is
open, powerful, intelligent and flexible, helping operators cut the
amount of time necessary to roll out new and enhanced services by up to
75%. As a result operators can secure the appropriate share of untapped
revenue opportunities, generate more interactive engagement with
subscribers, and regain control of the subscriber.
The Open Services Framework does this through two modules that can be used together or independently:
· The Service Innovation Module enables the rapid introduction of
high-quality service enhancements by exposing value-adding operator
assets and capabilities, independent from the delivery infrastructure
and;
· The Delivery Optimization Module enables high-reliability,
low-latency, secure and handset- and network-optimized delivery of
services.
Jay Seaton, CMO at Airwide Solutions commented: “The study we have
conducted with mobileSQUARED highlights that there is a clear demand
from both operators and subscribers for a centralized content and
services solution…one that will help operators to deliver relevant,
high quality applications quickly to the end user. We’ve designed our
Open Services Framework with this need for versatility, speed and
quality in mind so that operators can enhance virtually any application
with contextual information and support as well as quickly rollout the
new mobile applications their subscribers demand without risking
disruption to the underlying infrastructure.”
Nick Lane, Head of Research at mobileSQUARED added: “Content and
services have been reinvigorated by the App Store. It is setting the
precedent for the industry but the challenge now is how to extend that
experience to the mass market. For mobile operators intent on driving
ARPU, deploying an app store-like offering is the ideal solution to
delivering content and services targeted at the broad mobile
demographic. It is a strategy that guarantees the operator flexibility
and timeliness to respond to changing market and consumer requirements
and demands. A network-based solution using common APIs overcomes the
pitfall of device and OS fragmentation and ensures that mobile
operators will play a pivotal role in delivering app stores to the mass
market.”
A detailed whitepaper outlining the results of the research in more
detail can be requested by emailing Gemma Yates at
airwidepr@miliberty.com