Shamelessly stolen from the brilliant GIGAOM blog, thought this is a great graphic to show the dramatic shift in the past 3 years in the smartphone mobile OS market.
There are a few noticeable and obvious trends (namely rise of RIM, Apple and Android, fall of Windows and Linux), but I honestly believe this year will throw up several more surprise. Keep an eye out for:
The rebirth of Windows Phone – This will depend on the time of its official launch, but after the positive reception at and post MWC, it is clear that it will start to reclaim some of that last market share. This may not be too evident until 2011 however, with a proposed Q4 2010 launch.
The Android explosion continues – 2009 was very much a testing the water year fro Android, with the high profile Motorola Droid, Nexus One and HTC Hero all contributing to a jump in share, however 2010 will be the year when Android is a success based on the broad range of other handsets it will feature on. I expect an even more significant leap this year.
Symbian stability – Despite receiving several body blows in the form of the iPhone and Blackberry, I still expect due to their huge huge sales figures for Symbian not to make its fall from grace just yet. It will take a lot more than a few rivals to bring down this behemoth.
In marketing today, it is becoming commonplace for any which brand to build an iPhone app just to tick a box. To say ‘we have an iPhone app’ is deemed to be ‘cutting edge’.
Have brand managers and marketers completely forgotten the reasoning behind communicating with their audience, and the fundamentals of marketing?
I get furious when I see pointless applications hit the market from short sighted brands, with no consideration for market segmentation or consumer base, and the latest is no exception.
The Conservative party has just launched its iPhone application which will supposedly “help both existing supporters and floating voters learn more about their policies, connect with them on social networks and share political news with their friends.” (read more…)
Dutch car insurance VrijVerzekerd wanted to point out that they repay the purchase price of your car in case of an accident. So OBVIOUSLY it had to involve a free iPhone game and a viral video! The execution is actually quite successful, although the viral drags on a bit! If you have a play with the game, feel free to let us know what you think!
Verizon Wireless has been heavily seeding the net with virals for its Motorola Android handset in the past week, and is certainly sparking some controversy! It has a few digs at the iPhone and goes further to demonstrate Motorola’s strong support for the Android OS. iPhone might be a little worried about the emergence of Android, and the commitment made by the members of the Open Handset Alliance, but I for one do not believe a Motorola handset will take away the iPhone’s crown. But in the meantime I am enjoying watching the industry give Apple a gentle kick in the nuts.
Some smart alec Apple fan boy has replied with their very own take on the Droid Does viral. (read more…)
