The Benefits of Smartphones
You’ve seen them in the airports, in meeting rooms, in doctors’ offices, and with commuters throughout your day. It’s been years since smartphones exploded onto the scene several years ago and since their arrival they’ve carved quite the niche for themselves. At first only the tools of the business elite, they have now built a place within the social consciousness of a wide variety of demographics. Other than Nokia, the original players in this market including HP and Ericsson have focused on other areas of the wireless device market. Efforts by newer manufactures to improve the preceding technology have been created and have made way for new product leadership; ultimately the consumer has benefited most. With all of the buzz that has built up in the market for the Apple iPhone and the Google Droid, mass consumerism has started to take hold and shape the way in which humans live and interact with each other.
At the end of last year it was reported that only 21% of the wireless subscribers in the US used a smartphone, this number is expected to climb to 35% by the end of 2010. By the end of 2011, smartphone mobile devices are expected to hold the dominant position in the wireless device market. Even in last year’s recession the smartphone industry’s presence gained momentum, leveraging a variety of resources that were brought to the table for the consumer. No longer are handheld devices counted on solely for making/receiving telephone calls and for checking the basic calendar that came with the phone. Accessing the internet, viewing educational video content, or engaging in e-commerce are as simple as if you were at your personal computer attending to these tasks. Connecting with the world as we know it has been changed. In 2002 Research in Motion (RIM) released the Blackberry, effectively changing the way in which business used smartphones. The Blackberry was the 1st smartphone to be optimized for wireless email usage. Other OEMs continued on making better and better products for the marketplace. Evidence of the products’ market entrenchment can be seen in the medical and legal worlds with multiple applications coming into play with a key focus on improving productivity and efficiency.
Opportunities for developers to create content for these devices has opened up entirely new revenue streams for them as well as the manufacturers. With so many new segments warming up to the product category, new applications are appearing in ‘paid’ and ‘free’ formats. As the device continues to mature in the marketplace these great resources have also taken a foothold as learning devices. Educational opportunities for the K-12 market, including online training, have emerged on devices such as the iPhone and the Droid. Through the communication of these products’ functionality to new demographics continual market growth opportunities should continue to come to fruition. In January of this year, Google launched the Nexus One smartphone, which uses its proprietary Android OS. It can be safely assumed that the battle with Apple (and its latest 3GS smartphone) for consumers’ mindshare will rage on into the coming years. The recent boom and explosion of applications is a strong sign that the smartphone is destined for continued market share gains with wireless phone users for years to come.
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