The War for the Next Generation of Mobile Consumers

Mobile broadband services will revolutionize our life and create opportunities for companies like Apple and Nokia. Who will win the mobile consumers?

The landscape is changing quickly as companies prepare for this war. The moves so far:

• Apple launched the iPhone in collaboration with AT&T
• change the business model for operators and handset vendors
• revenue share agreement with an operators
• European operators O2 and others follows
  

• Nokia made strategic acquisitions
• buying companies such as Intellisync, Sega, Gate 5, Navteq, Enpocket and Loudeye
• introduced Ovi - its music and web services platform
• Vodafone and Telefonica have both plan to offer Ovi services
  

• SonyEricsson
• introduced its own Internet music portal: PlayNow
• Ericsson acquired Tandberg TV, Redback, Marconi and LHS (billing) to build the next generation services network
• Sony builds on its Walkman, Cybershot and Playstation brands to leverage with consumers
  

• Google phone turns out to be an open software initiative
• Android is Google’s open mobile operating system initiative. Check out the demo here and the architecture overview here.
  
• acquisitions for location based services, mobile advertising, chat, search, and others set Google up on a collision with the others. But it is a collision with partnerships.
• the Open Handset Alliance is betting on the revolution of the mobile phone industry. The alliance includes handset manufacturers such as Motorola, HTC, Samsung and LG, mobile operators such as Sprint, T-Mobile, KDDI, NTT DoCoMo, Telecom Italia and Telefonica, other companies such as Broadcom, Intel, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, eBay, and PacketVideo
• but Android will not appear in phones for about a year
  

• Microsoft is going Live
  
• betting its mobile future on Windows Live Hotmail, Messenger, Live Contacts and Live Spaces and bringing together a total end-user experience
• acquired companies to extend its offerings and plans to acquire about 20 companies—from $50 million to $1 billion—every year for the next five years

Stay-tuned for the coming battle of the internet and mobile giants. On the other hand media and entertainment companies will create new services and experiences on these platforms and devices. Consumers will have many choices as this brand new mobile broadband world unfolds.