Thursday, 24 July 2008

In-Stat: iPhone & Android Build Momentum for Major Change in Wireless Industry

Recent efforts with Apple’s latest iPhone 3G and Google’s Android platform have created a groundswell of support that will ultimately help mobile operators and handset vendors, reshaping the wireless industry in the process...

Recent efforts with Apple’s latest iPhone 3G and Google’s Android platform have created a groundswell of support that will ultimately help mobile operators and handset vendors, reshaping the wireless industry in the process says In-Stat.

According to high-tech market research firm, the current telco-centered approach to developing Internet mobile applications has created an ecosystem for application developers that is complex, fragmented, difficult to enter, and offers a high risk of failure.

"The mobile operator-centric WAP-based ecosystem for applications has been challenged, unsuccessfully before," says Bill Hughes, In-Stat analyst.

"It has taken the innovative design of Apple Computers and the financial power of Google to push the juggernaut off its course and more into harmony with the wishes of mobile customers."

In-Stat predicts that Android will kick-start location-aware advertising by enabling the benefits of mobile Linux-if it can create a good revenue sharing model for its wireless operator partners and that Google will hedge its Android bet by working with others for location-aware searches, including the iPhone.