Category: Featured News

Smartphones have become pervasive in China, where data from September 2011 has shown that the number of mobile phone users broke the 940 million mark, and where over half of the new device users are opting for 3G devices. Now, in 2012, China holds the largest share of mobile phone market and is experiencing the most competitive challenges within smartphone sector.

As a result, much of the world is looking to China mobile trends as the gauge of mobile progress, and is seeing mobile gaming as a vital element of the growth of the industry, and that will also be responsible for the majority of the revenue in that part of the world.

Firms and mobile app developers around the world are looking to China to take their own piece of the mobile pie. To do this, they are also paying close attention to the predictions that are being made about the mobile environment in that region. So far, they included the following predictions for 2012:

• Before the close of the year, China will break the 100 million mark for the number of smartphones being used in the country

• All three major Chinese telecom carriers will offer support of Apple’s iOS

• The market for game distribution in China will continue to divide until there will be more than 100 independent channels

• The most popular smartphones in China will be those based on Android

• The top source of mobile game revenue will come from in-game purchases

Though analysts, economists, and other experts may have yet to decide whether or not China will become the world’s next superpower, and when that may occur, what is difficult to doubt is that in the mobile gaming world, the country will already have reached its position as confirmed leader by the end of this year.

Not just China Mobile Trends Anymore – What all companies should know about m-commerce

The companies that will be seeing the greatest successes over the next few years have realized that mobile is here and it is heating up, and that the earlier they take part in it, the better the results will be.

Even better than the popularity of mobile is that m-commerce is also on the rise. Business leaders such as CEOs are now being required to find out about the latest trends and movements in mobile, so that their own companies will be able to stay ahead of the game.

The following are some points that every company should know about m-commerce:

Mobile has arrived – this isn’t a channel that is just about to get here. It’s already here, and it is expected to explode at any moment. Almost half of all Americans now have a smartphone, and most expert predictions are saying that by 2015, the spending using those mobile devices will be 8 percent greater than that generated by e-commerce.

• M-commerce is becoming mainstream – it is becoming the norm for the average consumer to make purchases using their mobile devices. Whether they buy the items online, or use the devices to make the payments in-store, the incorporation of the device into the purchasing process is becoming mainstream.

• Mobile payments does not yet have a leader – though there are many different companies vying for the top spot of the mobile payments marketplace, that position has yet to be claimed. It isn’t expected that the winner will be known before the end of this year.

• Privacy is key – one of the top concerns that smartphone owners have identified is with regards to privacy. Being respectful of this will be critical to the success of mobile efforts both this year and beyond.

Mobile marketing degrees are not being handed out

Education isn’t something that stops with a diploma or a degree, and continuing your learning is not a vital element in the majority of most professions, especially for marketers, who must always know the latest developments and trends to ensure that they can offer what their clients want most and how to best engage consumers to create an effective call to action.

Marketers go through their formal education and spend years building job experience, and the lucky ones are hired by a terrific organization. But this doesn’t mean that the learning can end there. Though governing laws may not require a marketer to take continuing education courses or otherwise update their professional knowledge, it remains an integral part of their ability to succeed (and for the ability of their employer to succeed).

PR and marketing professionals must remain on the cutting edge. Today, this means that they need to be aware of the latest developments and trends in the internet and technology. These two industries are moving faster than most people can imagine. Yesterday’s exciting new emerging concepts – such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter – have become common parts of our daily lives and, as such, are also routine elements of marketing campaigns and strategies.

As we’ve been seeing, emerging social media such as Pinterest and Google+ are just starting to find their place, and marketers will need to keep on top of their growing popularity or they will become lost in the trends and fall behind. That said, social media is only the start.

Mobile is opening up a whole world of new opportunities, but for many, it is like starting from scratch once more. QR codes, for example, aren’t just a buzz word anymore, but are becoming both supporting and central elements of massive campaigns. 

The difference mobile search made during the year…

With the ever growing number of smartphones in the marketplace, mobile search has become more important than ever before, but marketers are quickly discovering that their efforts with SEO and other traditional search techniques, cannot be quite the same as they were for the regular web.

Mobile search – unlike traditional laptop and desktop-based queries on search engines – offer different results different results and provide a different way of demonstrating those results depending on the kind of device that is being used – for example, a tablet or a smartphone.

Google has recently announced the development of a search engine crawler that was created specifically for smartphones, and that functions separately and differently from the one it is currently using for the typical feature phone. This is a strong indicator that unique SEO techniques will be required to effectively optimize apps and sites meant for smartphones.

Until now, it has always been believed that Google’s treatment of all mobile devices – from tablets to smartphones to feature phones – has been relatively the same as it has been for PCs, only with a few additional geo-specific results. However, with this recent announcement, it is clear that Google intends to treat the various devices differently, and SEO experts will need to come up with a new strategy that will take this into account.