Mobile Apps: The new conundrum for growth
Market trying to shake itself to a stupendous growth
By: Amit Bhushan Date:28th Feb 2014
The Mobile Apps market is likely to fire up following a large scale interest generated by the vast interest being shown by investors in this space, off late. This follows primarily from the large scale adoption of mobile phones by people at all income levels. This has received further impetus with advent of SMART Phone and Cloud computing technologies. The SMART Phone technology is bringing in enough computing power in the hands of ‘common’ people as some of the erstwhile Personal computer. Cloud computing technology is allowing people to ‘access/store’ their data and utilize sophisticated tools and software applications. This has the chance to trigger the next round of development.
The attitude of people in relation to mobile is unlike their ‘imagination’ of computers. The Mobile still remains a ‘toy’ compared to the computers or laptops which remain a ‘sophisticated device’. The ability to put mobile in a pocket and take it to travel easily seems to be making the difference. Also, ability to loose it as well as get a replacement relatively cheaply causes the difference in attitude. Note that ‘Cheap’ for mobile is just a perception as some of the mobile devices are pretty expensive, however people still replace their mobiles if they get a better model without adherence to their notions of ‘big bills’ as is the case with personal computers or lap tops. It is already a device of choice to store data of almost ‘all contacts’ often with addresses, photographs, email ids etc. As the SMART Phone technology deepens its roots further, people won’t mind keeping or accessing other important data files from their mobiles. Already mails including official mails along with ‘attachments’ are accessed from mobiles.
It would be fascinating to argue that many of the benefits mentioned in the above paragraph can be availed by cloud computing alone, however this has not triggered its adoption by SOHO segment and this still sees better utilization at corporate segment. However, what is different with mobile is the attitude of the people where they are more open to experiment e.g. a missed call signal has been adopted by a large number of people while no such thing has happened to computer as of yet. Since this attitude towards mobile is pretty different, it may allow a chance to a host of opportunities for Technology solutions to be pushed to the market since the attitude of customers is different and their resistance seen earlier is no longer there. For Example: quite a few attempts were made by Computer software markers to push their Accounting/ERP packages to Small Office Home Office (SOHO) businesses and Retailers. However most such attempts were thwarted since computer was seen as a sophisticated, bulky device which catches attention and cannot be moved easily when required. It was also feared that this will require an additional cost of an educated attendant to operate. The keenness of the SOHO/Retail business owners to keep their data/information strictly to themselves might also be better addressed by Cloud and App arrangement setup rather than a PC with a storage device at defined location. However things like audit ability when required, strict privacy and chances of mis-use or data corruption as well as data loss may be needed to be answered including what possible legal recourse could be available for the businesses.
With mobile based Apps, people do not have any similar fears as of yet. However, they may find pocket sized mobiles a bit uncomfortable for use for a longer duration of the day. This may give rise to newer devices which can be attached to mobiles like Screens and Keyboards that can be attached to suitable ‘ports’ in mobile devices and can allow user to utilize the computing power in his ‘hand’ by the way of a mobile device. The technology solutions for such instruments are ‘already’ available. One may not be surprised to find ‘mobiles which shall soon be having ‘ports’ for such devices as well as additional ports for ‘printers’, ‘joysticks’, scan capabilities, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), projection capabilities or built in projectors etc. to support SOHO segment needs who may be offered support via mobile Apps that allow them necessary computing as required to run their businesses in secured and smooth manner. A domestic supply chain groomed to the needs of the market with capability to offer practical solution is likely to start sooner rather than later. Quite a few solutions which are popular on internet are soon likely to be available in their mobile avatars to tap the vast opportunity available in this space.
As engineering capability grows in India along with a bit more focus on better education regards Technological possibilities, the likelihood of this market to explode and turn into next multi-bagger industry cannot be ruled out. It is already known that India grows in the ‘night’ when its government, tax authorities and law enforcement agencies are asleep. Technology has the real possibility of bringing the ‘feel’ of this adage to common people. Hope the authorities wake up in time though. However going by past experiences, the government only follows the entrepreneur rather than lead the development of regulations to evolve the market. Stifling the market with over regulations may not be an appropriate solution in times of falling growth as well.
Market trying to shake itself to a stupendous growth
By: Amit Bhushan Date:28th Feb 2014
The Mobile Apps market is likely to fire up following a large scale interest generated by the vast interest being shown by investors in this space, off late. This follows primarily from the large scale adoption of mobile phones by people at all income levels. This has received further impetus with advent of SMART Phone and Cloud computing technologies. The SMART Phone technology is bringing in enough computing power in the hands of ‘common’ people as some of the erstwhile Personal computer. Cloud computing technology is allowing people to ‘access/store’ their data and utilize sophisticated tools and software applications. This has the chance to trigger the next round of development.
The attitude of people in relation to mobile is unlike their ‘imagination’ of computers. The Mobile still remains a ‘toy’ compared to the computers or laptops which remain a ‘sophisticated device’. The ability to put mobile in a pocket and take it to travel easily seems to be making the difference. Also, ability to loose it as well as get a replacement relatively cheaply causes the difference in attitude. Note that ‘Cheap’ for mobile is just a perception as some of the mobile devices are pretty expensive, however people still replace their mobiles if they get a better model without adherence to their notions of ‘big bills’ as is the case with personal computers or lap tops. It is already a device of choice to store data of almost ‘all contacts’ often with addresses, photographs, email ids etc. As the SMART Phone technology deepens its roots further, people won’t mind keeping or accessing other important data files from their mobiles. Already mails including official mails along with ‘attachments’ are accessed from mobiles.
It would be fascinating to argue that many of the benefits mentioned in the above paragraph can be availed by cloud computing alone, however this has not triggered its adoption by SOHO segment and this still sees better utilization at corporate segment. However, what is different with mobile is the attitude of the people where they are more open to experiment e.g. a missed call signal has been adopted by a large number of people while no such thing has happened to computer as of yet. Since this attitude towards mobile is pretty different, it may allow a chance to a host of opportunities for Technology solutions to be pushed to the market since the attitude of customers is different and their resistance seen earlier is no longer there. For Example: quite a few attempts were made by Computer software markers to push their Accounting/ERP packages to Small Office Home Office (SOHO) businesses and Retailers. However most such attempts were thwarted since computer was seen as a sophisticated, bulky device which catches attention and cannot be moved easily when required. It was also feared that this will require an additional cost of an educated attendant to operate. The keenness of the SOHO/Retail business owners to keep their data/information strictly to themselves might also be better addressed by Cloud and App arrangement setup rather than a PC with a storage device at defined location. However things like audit ability when required, strict privacy and chances of mis-use or data corruption as well as data loss may be needed to be answered including what possible legal recourse could be available for the businesses.
With mobile based Apps, people do not have any similar fears as of yet. However, they may find pocket sized mobiles a bit uncomfortable for use for a longer duration of the day. This may give rise to newer devices which can be attached to mobiles like Screens and Keyboards that can be attached to suitable ‘ports’ in mobile devices and can allow user to utilize the computing power in his ‘hand’ by the way of a mobile device. The technology solutions for such instruments are ‘already’ available. One may not be surprised to find ‘mobiles which shall soon be having ‘ports’ for such devices as well as additional ports for ‘printers’, ‘joysticks’, scan capabilities, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), projection capabilities or built in projectors etc. to support SOHO segment needs who may be offered support via mobile Apps that allow them necessary computing as required to run their businesses in secured and smooth manner. A domestic supply chain groomed to the needs of the market with capability to offer practical solution is likely to start sooner rather than later. Quite a few solutions which are popular on internet are soon likely to be available in their mobile avatars to tap the vast opportunity available in this space.
As engineering capability grows in India along with a bit more focus on better education regards Technological possibilities, the likelihood of this market to explode and turn into next multi-bagger industry cannot be ruled out. It is already known that India grows in the ‘night’ when its government, tax authorities and law enforcement agencies are asleep. Technology has the real possibility of bringing the ‘feel’ of this adage to common people. Hope the authorities wake up in time though. However going by past experiences, the government only follows the entrepreneur rather than lead the development of regulations to evolve the market. Stifling the market with over regulations may not be an appropriate solution in times of falling growth as well.