Mobility predictions

Global market intelligence provider International Data Corporation has given us new insights into what 2014 holds for the Asia-Pacific mobile industry.

In its new study, IDC said it expects the Asia Pacific mobility market to continue experiencing strong growth next year as companies across the mobility ecosystem adapt to meet the demands of the Gen-C or what it calls connected consumers.

According to IDC Asia-Pacific head for telecoms and mobility Charles Reed Anderson, the unique Asia Pacific market dynamics create the world’s most exciting mobile market. He says the combination of a young population, economic growth and a lack of fixed infrastructure in the developing countries make mobility central to the lives of the consumer.

He observes that we are in the midst of an amazing transformation, with consumers in countries like China watching videos online more than they watch television.

Mobile commerce In ASEAN is also experiencing huge growth, with some leading eCommerce vendors reporting that between 20- to 40-percent of all their transactions come from mobile devices.

The following are IDC’s top 10 mobility predictions in 2014 and trends that will have the biggest impact on the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) mobility market (Source: m.idc.com):

Prediction 1: Bring your own device or BYOD as an enterprise mobility strategy is dead, but BYOD will continue to dig deeper in Asia/Pacific. (BYOD refers to employees who bring their own computing devices – such as smartphones, laptops and PDAs – to the workplace for use and connectivity on the corporate network). IDC expects a new trend to emerge: Eligible users will be given a choice of devices that they can use for work, also referred to as the “Choose Your Own Device” (CYOD) model. Organizations evaluating mobility strategically will look to CYOD as the main adoption model where management and security can be standardized and guaranteed, and business processes can be mobilized.

Prediction 2: In 2014, Asia Pacific will start to reap the benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT), with the groundwork being laid to fundamentally change the way that cities function, industries operate, companies compete, employees work and consumers live. (IoT refers to uniquely identifiable objects and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure. According to ABI Research, more than 30 billion devices will be wirelessly connected to the IoT by 2020).

IDC anticipates much of the innovation that drives the industry forward not to come from the traditional vendors, but rather the entrepreneurial new IoT application vendors and analytics companies that will find new ways to leverage technology “products” and the data they capture to create the solutions that change the way we work and live.

Prediction 3: More mobile devices than PCs are used to access the internet in Asia Pacific, and in the developing and emerging markets in particular. In Indonesia, for instance, three times as many mobile devices are used to access the internet as PCs. Many companies are realizing that for interacting with employees, partners or customers, mobility is the core strategy. For many large organizations, this transition will take time to evolve and therefore will create market opportunities for innovative and entrepreneurial companies to address the underserved mobile customers in selected industries, including financial services and retail.

Prediction 4: A new appcessory (application accessory) market will emerge to develop the solutions that extend the usability of consumer wearables.

In 2014, IDC believes an appcessory market will emerge that leverage these technological breakthroughs to drive dynamic consumer and enterprise solutions. (PCMag.com defines appcessory as as an application in a mobile device that activates something in the physical world. For example, smartphones and tablets using a sensor plug-in can monitor a person’s vital signs, and with a credit card plug-in, can become point-of-sale terminals).

Prediction 5: IDC expects the creation of innovative two-sided business models to generate future revenue streams for mobile operators. “Developing market operators face a ‘catch 22’ situation: Increased smartphone penetration is driving digital content consumption and network traffic, but to handle the increased traffic, operators need to upgrade their network capacity. However, the low customer average revenue per user (ARPUs) do not support the investment case. Operators must identify two-sided business models where revenues can be generated by either the content providers, device manufacturers or other parties. This model is not new, however, the current models are not driving the necessary revenues so a new way of thinking is required. Examples of how this could work could be a three-way partnership with the operator, video content owner and device manufacturer to create a TV alternative in countries like China where considerably more people watch online video content than broadcast TV.

Prediction 6 – IDC expects organizations across Asia-Pacific will start to replace portions of their notebook fleet with inexpensive, high performing Windows 8.1-based tablets and convertibles.

Prediction 7 – In 2014, local original device manufacturers (ODMs) will begin to expand beyond the borders of their home countries and venture into other markets in the region. Global brands like Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo will re-double their efforts to gain more recognition on the world stage. IDC expects both regional ODMs and global brand to invest heavily in 2014 to build up their respective brands in and out of Asia/Pacific.

Prediction 8 – Just as smartphones and mobile apps have drastically changed the areas of computing, software and communications, IDC expects mobile platforms to drastically change and expand the area of xCommerce in 2014 and beyond. Mobile commerce is particularly well suited for the Asia/Pacific region and IDC expects most eCommerce providers to expand their capabilities for mobile shopping in the near future.

IDC expects many types of mobile app providers to incorporate commerce functions in 2014, ranging from communications to social networking to gaming apps and more focused mCommerce apps. This, in turn, may help topple the dominance or near-monopolies of existing eCommerce players.

Prediction 9 – The increasingly globalized, interconnected and borderless world has opened up countless new possibilities and paved the way for new Over-the-Top Providers (OTTPs), content media providers, web giants and many new age cloud providers to become new ICT champions. IDC believes that 2014 will mark the beginning of the emergence of the “service provider of the future” as telecom service providers, web giants and OTTPs take the first tentative steps towards capturing new types of business opportunities.

Prediction 10 – Operators have been leveraging Big Data solutions for many years to drive operational efficiencies, to support decision making processes, and to create more comprehensive customer profiles. The components are in place for operators to start monetizing this data through aggressive mobile advertising initiatives, however, IDC does not expect this to occur in 2014 despite the lucrative new revenue streams it would unearth due to the uncertainty over government regulations on data privacy and immense risk of customer backlash.

IDC expects these operators to shy away from “pushing” this data out to the market, rather, they will instead leverage a “pull” strategy where they retain full control of the data but can apply it to specific advertiser requests, minimizing the regulatory and customer backlash risks.

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