How has the ecosystem evolved with the daily habits of mobile Internet users?

How has the ecosystem evolved with the daily habits of mobile Internet users? The journey from the PC Internet to the current age of the Smart device Internet is charting an exciting path on how the market ecosystem is evolving with the daily habits of mobile Internet users of today ... 

In the last 20 years, we have witnessed 4 Phases in the Journey to the Mobile Internet. From the age of the "PC Internet" to the "Feature Phone Internet", "Smartphone Internet" and now the "Smart device Internet".  We have also seen how users of the Internet have evolved in their daily habits of information and content consumption - this is evident as we review the market development in the five pillars in the digital content Internet business. 

How has the evolution been in the ecosystem during the 4 phases in our journey to the mobile Internet?

(1) Content has grown richer in variety and depth

• From black and white to colour and having depth in colour in graphics (remember days of black and white operator logos, picture messages in Nokia feature phones)
• From mono tone ring tones to polymorphic ring tones to MP3s and today's streaming and high-def music services
• From simple flash and java games to today's rich app store games and multi-player social games
• and the list goes on ... video, TV, 3D, augmented reality characters and so on ... consumers are spoilt for choice

(2) Advertising has evolved across multiple screen sizes, devices, content and purpose

• Ads are no longer restricted to the TV (broadcast, content and ads in DVDs) and PCs (with multimedia cards allowing for TV, video playing, radio listening).
• Ads are now also seen in various apps (e.g. chat, youtube); and apps are now in Smart TVs.
• Ads are evolving as content for the brands - attempt from brands to engage audiences.

(3) Access to Internet and content is widely availed to a global audience

• Content is now availed through TVs, radio, PCs, laptops, feature phones, smartphones, tablets, phablets, wearables, and so on in all manner of smart mobile devices - one of the trends in recent years and into 2013 ... 
• Feature phones are also getting smarter and driving mobile Internet access and innovative content consumption, especially in the emerging markets where mobile phones outnumber PCs.

(4) Payment for content (and now products) and the players in the ecosystem are fast evolving to cater to consumers' lifestyles and daily habits

• No longer restricted to just credit cards and PayPal,
• Operator mobile billing via sms, money online payment methods like bank transfers, scratch cards, COD (cash-on-delivery) are offering alternative payment modes for not only digital contents but potentially also for physical products and merchandise.

(5) Fulfilment, the last mile in terms of delivery of products and content and personalised bundled offers is being invested 

• Besides Amazon who leads the pack in this area, China's Alibaba and local ecommerce players like Redmart are investing in owning logistics fulfilment to ensure continual customer satisfaction and retention.

How are digital content players working to shape daily habits of mobile Internet users?

• News is sticky - look at Yahoo, local news sites like Malaysia's Malaysiakini.com, Indonesia's Detik.com and you will see them feature in the top 20 Alexa rankings for the local markets. And as for apps for news ... new ways to read news online are constantly evolving in their offers.

• Communication - mobile instant messaging (social chat), private chat, mobile Internet call (Skype), or good ol' email, is a hotly contested space in the market today, globally and especially more so in Asia.

• During Echelon June 2013 Asia startups event in Singapore, a number of players I met with are focusing on apps which cater to the following daily habits of users - take a look at the slideshare showcase below.

Echelon June 2013 Singapore - showcase of mobile apps and startups to daily habits of mobile Internet users by Nelson Wee from Nelson Wee

Consumers are growing spoilt for choice for content, products and mobile devices and appliances from where they can consume content and buy products from. With more choice fighting for a growing yet at the same limited attention span of the consumers, lots of innovation and change in the ecosystem will be taking place in this current age of "smart device Internet" and future ages to come - this indeed spells out for more exciting moments to come to see how the daily habits of the mobile Internet users will continue to evolve.

For your reference, please see below for the rest of the presentation deck which I presented my "Journey into the Mobile of the Internet" recently on 19 June 2013 at Salesforce.com Biz Academy (I would like to thank Sultan Semlali for this wonderful opportunity). Appreciate your comments.

Journey into the mobile of the Internet - Nelson Wee Salesforce.com Biz Academy Presentation 19 june 2013 from Nelson Wee

I look forward to continue with my conversations with you.

Talk soon~
Nelson Wee
Profile: Nelson Wee, Singapore
Blog: http://myovi.blogspot.com
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.com/nelsonwee 
Twitter: @nelsonwee

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
Slideshare materials: http://www.slideshare.com/nelsonwee
Pinterest materials: http://pinterest.com/nelsonwee/

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

4 Hot Trends to watch in 2013

Looking back 2012, lots have certainly transpassed.  It was incidentally around the same time last year  when I penned "5 Hot Trends to watch in 2012".  In 2012, cloud, social and mobility drove the feverish growth in the ecosystem from startups, incubators, investors, system integrators, enterprises, brands etc, as well as choice and consumption changes in consumer behaviour. 



With 2013, we could see the promise and potential in the following themes:

1. Everything gets smarter, more fun and unstructured.
2. Devices help consumers with recommendations to content and merchandise.
3. Cloud enable content and data transport, storage and backup to different devices everywhere.
4. Consumer loyalty will be driven across multiple experiences.

How would the above factor out in terms of possible trends? Here is part 1 of the view from Nelson Wee :-)

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

• Tablets and its hybrid convertibles phablets (large 5" to 7" screen touchscreen devices) will get smarter, cheaper and made available en-masse.
• In my earlier post "why are there huge opportunities in Connecting People through Mobile Social Messaging", I brought up Mary Meeker's 2012 year end internet trends presentation which pointed out the high internet user adds especially in the emerging markets (i.e. Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam). I also wrote about this in an earlier post "Doorway to the Mobile Internet opens in Southeast Asia, a high growth market in the making".
• Increasingly Asian mobile consumers value larger screens to consume mobile content, in parallel with TV watching.
• In fact, living with the larger screens in with phablets and tablets becomes addictive.
• And one more proof point, iPad mini and Samsung Note tablets have been out of stock in Singapore in the last couple of weeks apparently from the retail stores here I have heard!

(2) Content and merchandise everywhere

• To match the mobility and on-the-go lifestyles of consumers, not only will content need to be availed via multiple screens (feature phones, smartphones, tablets, PCs, Smart TVs etc), physical merchandise will be sold via mobile and bundled with digital content  - this being evident with Amazon.com's foray into the tablet and mobile commerce market.
• Whilst digital rights management (aka DRM) technologies are available today from the likes of companies like Lotaris, the current on-going debate between eBooks and publishers lends caution however to the business issues which need to be resolved along the content value chain.

(3) Apps with niche communities thrive

• In an earlier post "Key themes from Sparxup 2012 in Jakarta", various apps based on niche focused communities (e.g. for backpackers, food recipes) are sprouting up and have the potential to continue to thrive together with the larger social media communities, Facebook.
• Social networks around education and kids via edtech technologies also have an opportunity to grow in particular with the needs of parents and their concerns for their children's future.  Content portals made relevant for kids like WhizTimes are also establishing their foothold to cater to this market.
• Coupled with mobile and social technologies, niche communities can flourish in tandem.

(4) Communication made richer via mobile social

• In my last post "Why are there huge opportunities in Connecting People through Mobile Social Messaging", I highlighted the why and how hot the mobile social messaging market is developing globally, in particular Southeast Asia.
• Additional industry momentum on such Rich Communication Services is also being orchestrated by a global program, marketed as "Joyn", and project led by GSMA, is increasingly deployed to more operators to enable inter-operator instant messaging or chat, video sharing and file transfers.
• Consumers are looking for quick and easy sharing of their media (photos, videos, text etc) with their circles of friends and extended networks, depending on their context.
• Stay tuned to how the various mobile social messaging players evolve their solution platform offerings (e.g. mobile social games, themes, ancillary apps, merchandise) to ensure frequent engagement and viral acquisition.
• Here is Tictocplus - an example of a mobile social messaging platform service for quick and easy sharing of your photos and videos in your chats with your friends (disclosure: Tictocplus is from SK planet, where I am at currently).

Here are my initial take on 4 hot trends I see coming for 2013.

What are your thoughts on 2013 hot trends?

Talk soon,
Nelson Wee
twitter: @nelsonwee
my profile: http://www.linkedin.com/nelsonwee

More reference links for your read:

1. What 5 trends to look out for at CES 2013
2. Most anticipated tech gadgets for 2013
3. 10 Tech Trends to watch for in 2013
4. 10 Marketing Trends to watch for in 2013
5. Arip identifies top 5 trends to watch in 2013
6. 5 predictions for Twitter in 2013
7. Living with a big screen phone

How can Apps help build up your Social Currency?

In my last post "3 Phase Strategy in Digital Commerce", I brought up the potential ways in which:

1. Apps could act as outposts to consumers and build up communities.
2. Social messaging platforms and content marketing could engage with your consumers.
3. Commerce in general is bringing in the social engagement and recommendations to the online and mobile space as consumers are increasingly on-the-go and expect value from differentiated offers.

Wikipedia definition of social currency for your business states that it constitutes the entirety of actual and potential resources which could arise from the presence of your business in social networks and communities - digital or offline.

So how do mobile apps come into the picture in helping to build up social currency for your business? Growth in on-the-go consumers and mobile content consumption are changing the ways in which consumers are putting their attention and mindshare on business and marketing news. In southeast asia markets, whilst largely feature phone driven, smartphone growth are fast outstripping the growth of feature phones in the recent 2 years with the availability of low cost affordable smartphones. Internet access via low cost tablets and wifi enabled cafes are also helping the fuel internet access and content sharing. Have a look at my initial take on the Southeast Asia mobile and internet market (I will be updating this in another post) and you would see the potential reach of apps in Southeast Asia markets. Should you look into getting a piece of this channel? Yes. Is it worth your while? YES!

Southeast Asia Market Sizing for Internet Commerce from Nelson Wee

In developing the app strategy for your business, you would need to understand that in today's world of on-the-go consumers and pervasive mobile internet access, the market landscape for the consumption of business and marketing information is changing. No longer static in nature, there is a shift of information sharing and communication from static documents in your PCs to browsers and now increasingly via apps in smartphones, tablets, feature phones and more upcoming screens.

Here is a slide on how mobile apps: 

• could be used as experimental outposts to reach your consumers 
• to seed and incubate concept messaging, 
• and build up specific vertical communities for businesses. 

Open declaration here: the apps DishPal, StyleTag and StARCALL are from SK Planet where I currently work in.

Apps build communities from Nelson Wee

By nurturing your communities, engaging your users with the all-important relevant content calendar, you start to be able to mine and garner value for your business from your interactions with your consumers through the profiling of your community users.

Referring back to my previous post on the the 3 phases in Digital Commerce, the social messaging platform when coupled with nurtured communities and consumer profiling from apps, will grow richer with more relevant consumer and business context.

Let's discuss further - in subsequent posts or reach me directly.

I look forward to hear from you.

Nelson Wee
LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nelsonwee
Twitter: @nelsonwee
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.com/nelsonwee 

Introducing skoob, Singapore's 1st hyperlocal eBookstore

The ebook market in Singapore is in its early stage of growth. From my previous 2 posts "1-2-3 to the eBook market" and "Why the rise of eBooks (and opportunities to expand ancillary channels)?", the ebooks market is seen to be gathering momentum globally and having an impact to the market here in Singapore.

The US is leading the charge in the market for ebooks globally (with the introduction of the Amazon Kindle), where according to a survey by BookStats on the US publishing industry, that:

• In 2008, ebooks comprise 0.6% (or US$156M)) of the total trade books market. Publishers made net revenue of ~US$26B in 2008.
• In 2010, this number grew to 6.4% of the total trade books market, or US$1.8B (sales of 114M ebooks). Publishers made net revenue of ~US$28B in 2010.

The PWC report on "the future of ebooks" projected that share of consumer books sales by ebooks will grow to more than 22% in 2015.


From the local Singapore context, there have been also encouraging signs on ebook take-up seen from the following reading habits of Singaporeans:

(1) Sales of books in Singapore (according to Datamonitor report) in 2008 is SGD $190M and to grow to $215M in 2011, $232M in 2013 (CAGR ’08-’13 of 4.1%).

(2) From the Singapore Journal of Library & Information Management,

• 27.5% of Singaporeans placed reading as their most preferred leisure time activity.
• While average reader in Singapore reads about 5 books a year, about 10% of readers do read more than 30 books a year.

(3) From an IDA study done in 2009 on infocomm access in households, it was gathered that the primary activity for ~3% of Internet users (110k out of total number of Internet users in Singapore, more than 3.7M) were on reading online magazines and electronic books.


To augment the above in terms of market potential, in Singapore, there are 3 more reasons why the eBooks or mobile books market is set to take off here in Singapore.

1. There is more than 145% in mobile penetration in Singapore (encompassing smartphones and tablets).
2. The vast majority of consumers here have data-enabled plans.
3. Many consumers here have multiple devices (smartphones, tablets) today.
   

Now with the launch of skoob, Singapore's 1st eBookstore (disclosure: I lead the team in the launch of skoob eBookstore), the eBook market in Singapore looks set to grow from strength to strength. And the below listed benefits for consumers celebrate this moving forward.

1. Firstly, skoob aims to meet the digital lifestyle needs of Singapore's increasingly on-the-go consumers with its multiplatform, multi-device stores. You could access skoob on your PC, Mac, laptops, iPads, Android Tablets, iPhones and Android smartphones! No more having to wait for your book to arrive at your door-step!
2. Furthermore with personal space being at a premium in Singapore, going digital is not only green but also frees up space in one’s living areas for other needs. With skoob, consumers here can also access, buy and download their eBook(s), each on up to 5 devices (PCs, Mac, laptops, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets, Android smartphones).
3. Previously, consumers in Singapore had to jump over many hoops to buy ebooks. To read ebooks on a Kindle for example, consumers had to order a Kindle via post (Kindle is not shipped directly to Singapore) and get an Amazon gift card or a US credit card to pay for the eBooks. Now with skoob, consumers in Singapore can buy eBooks from their PCs, laptops, tablets (iPad, Android) or smartphones (iPhones, Android) etc and pay via their Singapore local credit cards or via their monthly operator bill if they are SingTel mobile customers.
4. Previously, there was no local e-bookstore to cater to the tastes and needs of Singaporeans. But now with skoob, Singapore consumers can now get hold of more than 50,000 e-books from international bestsellers such as “A game of thrones” by George Martin or “Aleph” by Paulo Coelho to important sought after local content such as "Giants of Asia: Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew", Mr. Midnight series of children’s stories, and of course, the essential study and assessment guides from Popular Books.

I look forward to hear from you on your feedback on the eBook market trends in the world, Asia or even in Singapore and of course, your feedback on skoob as well. Never stop reading, whenever, whereever~


Later,
Nelson Wee
find me on Twitter as well

References:
1. CNet Asia - SingTel announces "skoob" eBook store in Singapore
2. Channel NewsAsia - Flip Skoob to read and study
3. ZDNet - Singapore telco offers country's first e-book app
4. AsiaOne - Singapore's first e-book service launched
5. The Register - SingTel launches e-reader
6. TODAY online - Too cool for Skoob

1-2-3 to the eBook market

In my previous post, I wrote about how content consumption is going increasingly mobile as mobile devices are personal and always near you.  In this day and age of the Mobile Internet when time is now compressed more than ever, consumers are adapting their lifestyles in various activities like reading.  With the introduction of the Amazon Kindle in 2007 in the US and rest of the world in 2009, eBooks and eMagazines are now changing the ways consumers are interacting with the book media.

Here is a quick 1-2-3 to the eBook market:

(1) eBooks Global Market adoption: US leads, followed by the UK, emergent in Rest of the World

• Books business is BIG BUSINESS - around the world, people spent US$108 billion on books in 2009.
• In the US, eBooks have grown from 0.6 percent in 2008 of the total books trade  market, to 3% in 2009 and more recently to 7% in 2010.  Expect to see eBooks to have a market share of 22.5% of consumer books in 2015!
• The UK while lagging behind the US with 1.5% market share of consumer books in 2010 is expected to see this share rise to 14.2% in 2015

(2) eBooks can be consumed across multiple screens and ways

• eReaders (Amazon Kindle introduced in 2007) as the dedicated  eReading device which ensures a real book reading experience.
• Tablets (iPad in introduced in 2010) as the multifunction alternative reading devices, while on the move, e.g. with eMagazines.
• Smartphones for short mobile sequels read during daily commute.
• PCs, laptops which are great for reading special interest group eBooks, reference, education books.

(3) eBooks and eMagazines provide opportunities as ancillary channels

• Publishers can look forward to reinvent themselves in the book publishing value chain as content providers.
• With eBooks, publishers now have in their hands ancillary channels to market with potentially lower costs and higher margins.
• Publishers could earn ancillary revenues by going beyond the text in the books and repurposing the content to audio, video and even games.

Just like music, tv and video, the books industry has been experiencing disruptive changes in differing degrees around the world - led by the US and impacting the rest of the world through the proliferation of the mobile internet and multimedia consumption devices.

If you are a publisher, are you looking into eBooks?  If not, why?

If you are a consumer, how would you see eBooks changing your reading behaviors, now and in the future? 

Look forward to your views.


warm regards, later~
Nelson Wee
@nelsonwee