6 Reasons WHY Feature Phones need some loving too (Building reach for digital content via feature phones)

"Think about feature phones, they need some loving too ... " I heard this over presentations by Digi and AIS in the 2010 AppXchange Asia event. Granted 3 years have elapsed since the event and all the spotlight these days are given to impressive numbers of smartphones and tablets replacing feature phone users, there are strong reasons for us to think about feature phones and why they need some loving.

(1) Market for feature phones still overwhelm smartphones today

• According to Mary Meeker's Internet Trends 3 Dec 2012 report, whilst there were 1 billion smartphone users globally, that pales in comparison to the 5 billion total mobile phone users worldwide - that's still 4 billion feature phone users worldwide today!
• In emerging markets like Southeast Asia, where the Internet is largely and increasingly experienced via mobile, smartphone penetration is less than 25% on average. 
• Indonesia with its population of 250 million, more than 150 million unique subscribers, has only about 10% smartphone penetration - so, go figure~

(2) Innovation in Mobile Internet Services had existed with feature phones, way before smartphones

• Remember Japan's I-Mode which was a huge success case study in the late 90s to early 2000s?
• In South Korea, even with feature phones then, there were a number of successful case studies and innovation with the likes of mobile loyalty point system OKCashBag, mobile gift voucher system Gifticon from SK Telecom (now SK planet runs this; disclosure: I am now at SK planet).
• It is the developer ecosystems and digital content value chain partners which have been driving the mobile internet service innovation in the era before smartphones, with feature phones (albeit smart as they were already then).

(3) My First Internet, My First Email in emerging markets happened with Nokia (Ovi) feature phones

• Nokia Ovi services which was launched 28 August 2008 (disclosure: I was managing the Nokia Ovi services for Southeast Asia then), provided a number of emerging markets globally with their first Internet, and first email experience.
• A suite of mobile internet services - contents and calendars sync, photo and video sharing, files sync across PC and mobile, maps and navigation, mobile music, mobile social gaming and mobile apps downloads (sound familiar?) were made available already in those earlier years, to users of Nokia feature and Symbian phones (in those days, the N-series (with Maps, Mobile TV services etc), E-series (Push email, mobile device management and PIM sync services) as well as the iconic Nokia Communicator were the smartphones).
• Nokia Life Tools, a sms-based information subscription service for the emerging markets (China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria etc), with more than 95 million users to date, has provided agricultural, educational, healthcare and entertainment service offerings to Nokia feature phone users.

(4) eBooks are thriving and growing with feature phones

• In China, people have already been reading ebooks on their mobile phones and now increasingly on low-cost tablets (more than 75% feature phones - Mary Meeker's Dec 2012 Internet Trends report) with a market size of about $90 million (PwC data). Anecdotally, this figure could well be worth more than $300 million, given China consumers subscribe to ebook stories on sms and mms packages on their mobile - given more than 75% are feature phone users - Mary Meeker's Dec 2012 Internet Trends report).

(5) Social chat messaging is also gaining support and growing via feature phones

• Nimbuzz who has 120 million users today, largely in India and Middle East, is expanding into Singapore, Indonesia and other Southeast Asia markets with its social chat supporting feature phones and smartphones, through partnerships with mobile operators.
• NHN Japan is partnering with Nokia to push their Naver Line social chat service to the next 200 million in 2013, via Nokia's best selling Asha feature phones line-up.

(6) Cloud will enable "smart" feature phones

• biNu is Your Smartphone in the Cloud cloud-based software platform that delivers popular internet services and digital content fast and with low bandwidth for an efficient mobile experience to both feature and smartphones. It is backed by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt's TomorrowVentures.
• In fact, through biNu, romance publisher Harlequin (refer to first demo video below) and Worldreader (refer to second video below) will be offering eBooks through cloud-based eBook reader apps on feature phones who are now made "smart" by the biNu efficient cloud-based service platform. 

Well, 2 more areas to look out at for feature phones are in mobile social gaming with Migg33 (huge in Indonesia, South Africa etc) and mobile advertising (Buzzcity).

Are you convinced yet on the why feature phones today still need some loving attention if businesses are looking to grow and expand their mobile internet business globally?


Let's engage,
Nelson Wee
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nelsonwee
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Photo credit: vernieman / Foter.com / CC BY

4 More Hot Trends to watch for in 2013

In my last post, I talked about the following 4 Hot Trends to watch for in 2013 ... 

(1) Tablets will rule with Smart Tabs, Mass Tabs, Phablets

(2) Content and merchandise everywhere

(3) Apps with niche communities thrive

(4) Communication made richer via mobile social

Here are 4 more trends in 2013 to look out for:
(5) Connecting the last mile to spur innovation

• In a previous post "5 pillars of digital content internet business", the fifth pillar in the digital content value chain is fulfilment - the last mile connection to the consumer in terms of actually delivering the content and the associated analytics behind the transactions.
• However, there are inherent issues in the mobile network congestion in the mobile operators' networks, increasingly in a number of markets like Australia, Singapore etc. With growing consumer dissatisfaction, content and service providers will be faced with huge barriers caused by on-going user experience, consumer adoption of their services, and growing their businesses.
• So, it is not surprising to see offload of mobile data traffic to Wifi from smartphones and tablets. In the US according to Cisco forecast, mobile data traffic offload to Wifi have grown from 21% in 2010 to almost 50% in 2011.
• So, whilst there are challenges in the market forces, it is encouraging to see  Government initiatives to encourage mobile data offload to wifi in the US (policy to encourage innovation) and Malaysia (policy on Wifi coverage in Kuala Lumpur shopping malls).
• Watch out also for innovative startups like yourkarma riding on this wave to better serve the disgruntled and time-starved digital consumer who demand always on-the-go connectivity.  

(6) BYOD + MDM comes to the Living Room

• With the ubiquity of cloud driving the digital life of consumers, BYOD is becoming commonplace everywhere - in schools, in offices.
• Given that multiple device ownership of laptops, tablets, smartphones are becoming commonplace, use of tablets and smartphones for interactive second screen viewing  and SmartTVs coming of age, it would only be a matter of time when we see MDM (Mobile Device Management) bringing end to end device management to the living rooms.
• Mobile device management companies will need to cater not only to the device settings, but soon also with the digital rights of contents to the different screens and context of delivery and consumption.

(7) With SoLoMo, comes LOY

• "Social", "Location" and "Mobile" trends aka SoLoMo, are growing on both sides of the equation from demand (consumers) to supply (market players in ecosystem).
• With growth in SoLoMo, loyalty and retention of these digital consumers are now being looked into by a number of market players like GameMaki (offers fun gamification for retailers), Perx (all-in-one loyalty program in your mobile), Gimmie (enable engagement and loyalty in apps through gamifying rewards).
• In Korea, Gifticon (mobile gift voucher) and OKcashbag (all-in-one smart wallet for loyalty points across many brands and retailers) have been growing from strength to strength for more than 6 years and more than 10 years respectively. (declaration here: I am currently employed in SK planet, heading the Southeast Asia operations)
• Next, what with Google with its indoor maps and upcoming Google Glasses, and Nokia with its indoor maps and City Lens Augmented Reality offerings increasing their respective coverage in indoor maps and contextual recommendations, and Singapore companies like YFind providing accurate indoor location and data collection, we will see a converged focus of SoLoMo with LOYALTY.

(8) Health and happiness of consumers

• Curation is important. In the year ahead, tomorrow's consumers will grow more demanding with the increasing deluge of media and communication coming right at them.
• Careful attention and respect needs to be paid to permission-based data collection and profiling of consumers, taking note and balancing with their privacy needs.
• Also to note, a study suggests that 66% of consumers now expect customer care via social media, aka social care and so businesses will need to take ownership and drive omni-channel marketing into this area to achieve customer happiness.

In summary, 2013 will portend new, innovative, challenging and potentially game-changing market plays from the following 8 hot trends.

1. multiple devices and bigger viewing real estates, 
2. to content and merchandise, 
3. to apps offering windows to various/niche social communities, 
4. to richer forms of interactive communication and messaging,
5. to connecting the last mile and help drive consumption,
6. to MDM in the living room,
7. to the focused convergence of SoLoMoLOY,
8. and finally for the market need of businesses today in accounting for the health and happiness of their consumers.

What are your views on these hot trends in 2013? 

Let's do connect.
Nelson Wee
Twitter: @nelsonwee
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nelsonwee
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Photo credit: OllieBray / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Here are the reference links for this post for your reference: 

1. Telstra 3G customers complain about network congestion in Melbourne
2. Poor network experiences put Singapore Telcos under pressure
3. Is Cisco stacking the deck with its mobile data numbers?
4. In the US, tech, telecom giants take sides as FCC proposes large public WiFi networks
5. Malaysia government internet and mobile phone access policies 
6. Kuala Lumpur’s municipal government introduced a new policy to require businesses (occupying more than 120sq m floor space) acquiring a food and beverage license to provide free or low cost WiFi service.
7. Location-based services market trends and value chain
8. OKCashbag Case Study
9. Indoor GPS Singapore company, YFind
10. Study suggests that two-thirds of consumers now expect social care