I don’t know whether you have had as much fun as we have reading the various blogs responding to story that Russell Beattie Throws In The Towel On Mowser; And Doesn’t Believe In The Mobile Web Anymore (here in MocoNews). Of course, the mobile web is not dead. All you have to do is take a look at our live ticker of people accessing mobile websites and paying for services through the Bango platform to see it’s alive and kicking.
And is very much a global phenomenon – as we reported earlier this year, 54% of mobile browsing is from outside of the US and Europe. India, South Africa and Indonesia sit alongside the UK and the US in our mobile web browsing top 5. Take a look at the mobile web from the point of view of people in these countries and you see that mobile phones are the only way they can access the internet. Why? Because the majority of people in these countries don’t have a PC – and why should they?
Also, let’s not get too hung up on the iPhone and how it’s changing the world. Yes, it’s encouraging people to surf the web on their phone but the penetration of the iPhone in the mobile phone market is still tiny and in many ways it’s a closed system. Also although most business executives own a SmartPhone so they have access to email and voice on the go, this doesn’t reflect the vast majority of mobile phone users and what they want to do. In our view, most mobile web surfers are using their mobile to to get a range of stuff – updated sports scores, listen to music, view traffic alerts and be entertained (yes and that does mean adult content for some).
It’s everyday people accessing everyday stuff that’s feeding the mobile web.