File under “They’re Everywhere:” announcements of plans for third-party marketplaces for mobile applications filled the newswires at Mobile World Congress on Monday. And aside from making good business sense, the announcements are clarifying a major shift in thinking within the mobility community.
Microsoft Corp. and Nokia Corp. contributed to the veritable applications market frenzy on Monday, along with operators like O2 and China Mobile Ltd. and Orange.
"We believe that social location is the next wave of consumer demand,” said Niklas Savander, executive vice president of Nokia's Services unit, at a press conference at MWC. “The consumption of mobile media is fundamentally different from that on a PC, as it needs to be faster, easier and more appropriate. It's not about what, but about who, where and when."
Because applications are not just relevant to where you are and who you are, but who you’re with, and what you’re feeling at the time. In other words, this week’s announcements are about more than taking on Apple Inc.’s App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch for dominance in the mobile content market (which includes downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, video, mobile TV, text alerts and mobile Web browsing) – a revenue stream market research firm Strategy Analytics forecasts to grow 18 percent to $67 billion this year.
Nokia announced the Ovi Store, with content and programs for the S60 and S40 operating systems. Savandar said that Ovi will use a subscriber’s “social location” to serve up relevant apps and widget information depending on location and, in a new idea, who they happen to be with at the moment. And, Ovi will learn your behavior and tastes over time, eventually anticipating what subscribers are looking for.
"Consumers want content that is relevant to their interests, location and the people they care about," said Savander.
The Ovi Store will open in May and will give developers a 70 percent revenue share.
“Nokia’s Ovi Store is not simply a “me-too” take on the barnstorming iPhone App Store, although its concept undoubtedly owes a great deal to Apple’s success,” said Tony Cripps, principal analyst at Ovum Ltd., in a brief. “For one, Nokia’s version is aimed at a far broader user demographic, with both mid-range Series 40 devices and high-end S60 handsets being catered for. For another, Nokia will use location and other personal information (with user buy-in) to enable it to deliver a more personalized buying experience than its rivals. ‘Context’ is something of a Nokia obsession of late, so this could prove interesting, but is as yet an unknown.”
Meanwhile, personalization is at the heart of British operator O2’s strategy as well. O2 unveiled the “Litmus” portal late last year for downloading developer applications and this week it’s expanding the site from being a simple App Store competitor to providing customers with a say in how applications are developed. Litmus will offer two-way interaction between developers and customers, so programmers can gain insight into what buyers are looking for and customers can get involved in testing and provide forum-based feedback.
