Mobile Applications in India: Opportunities and Challenges

Ajay Pandey, CEO, Mastiff Tech
With the growth of economies, the amount of intellectual content generated by both individuals and companies is growing at a fairly rapid pace. And this in turn is accelerating the growth of alternate mediums of information dissemination (from the age old sagas of TV, radio, newspapers and magazines) to our very own internet and the next gen gadget in tinsel town - the mobile.

Whenever we think of internet the first thing that strikes is Google, isn’t it? One can just imagine the amount of content it has. But can content be place dependent? Can it not be accessed when on the move? This was something that was questioned every now and then. And the answer came in the form of the internet enabled mobile phone that has since then changed boundaries.

Now you can read news, watch your favourite video clip or chat with your buddy on-the-move. Isn’t it an interesting perspective? The one time dull device for just making and receiving calls has now become the Swiss army knife of technologies changing the way people communicate. And well, the plethora of opportunities provided by the mobile is far more advantageous than the desktop.

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the total number of mobile users in India stood at 296.08 million at the end of July 2008, as against 192.98 million a year ago. And it is growing at 53.44 per cent per year! Thus by providing high-speed data capabilities and internet access, mobiles open up a landscape where users can communicate, read, listen, watch and work as they wish, wherever they wish, using services personalized to their interests and even physical location.

While this may look like a piece of cake to a layman, putting all that kind of content on a cellphone is actually a great challenge for the developers to overcome. Every mobile content or application you make has to be ported on hundreds of mobile phones. The compatibility of an application to a certain mobile device is the utmost concern. This is because every mobile handset has a certain kind of configuration and the application has to suit the same. Nokia itself has hundreds of models available in the market including the ones that have been dissolved over a period. And there are other handset companies too!

The other challenge faced by the industry today is determining what content to give and what to keep. Is it music or is it video? Is it Bollywood or Hollywood? Well, this is one area that media houses need to spend more time and resources for. Anyone can give content but he who gives the best would be able to turn the table. Basically, one would need to understand the nerve of the consumer so as to offer the best content.

Every individual has a separate preference and customizing the content as per individual needs is a tedious task. One may like to read business updates on weekdays but latest update on movies during the weekends. How do you cope with that? And with the increased focus on localization, customization has become a greater challenge than before.

Providing the right information at the right time also determines the value of the content. Won’t it be great if the user gets the latest deals on offer at a certain shopping complex if he is near to that place or inside it? It may actually pursue him to drop in or peep into one of the product deals. On the other hand the same information may just lose its relevance if sent to the user while he is taking a nap or sitting in a meeting. And providing all this information on a 4 inches screen is not so easy. There is a big hullabaloo about PDAs or smart phones, as we call them, but their market is barely 15 per cent.

All said and done mobile phones have definitely been identified as the next big content distribution channel. Compared to the year 2000 the amount of time spent on the mobile phone has nearly doubled and addictive experiences have attracted audience attention at the expense of traditional media such as television and radio. And, why not when there is a huge proliferation of free services, as well as the ability to consume content selectively on the mobile.

Online ads are cheaper but have the ability to target the audience more effectively with measurable performance. Additionally, it does not give way to avoiding advertisements by flipping channels. In the last year alone advertising on mobiles has grown by 5-6 per cent. The biggest revenue grosser has been the simplest service or our well known SMS. Companies like Webaroo have exploited this terrain extensively. They have encouraged users to build SMS communities on their domain and all they do is to ship an ad with every SMS. It is extremely advantageous to the user as he gets information on his favourite subject at no cost at all bundled with an offer or deal to suit his appetite.

Another revenue generator is value added services that include ringtones, singtones and caller tunes wherein users are guaranteed their favourite music for a specific price tag. Well, these are basically volume strategies wherein more and more users are being brought in to generate advertising revenues.

On the other hand there is also a value strategy which aims at creating a group of consumers who may be low in numbers but guarantee high user experience. These include services like music on demand, videos on demand, and security add-ons on demand where users are guaranteed utmost service quality at a subscription model.

Last but not the least, mobile gaming is one arena that has come into active existence in the last year but is all set to break records where revenues are concerned. Initially, mobile gaming was limited to the ones embedded with the handset but now there are hoards of gaming companies developing games for download at a certain price. The game’s business model is structured from the outset to make money at various stages. For instance, users need to buy the software to get started and then pay a monthly subscription fee to keep playing the game. That’s not all, these games become absolutely free to play and download when the user chooses to watch an ad between the duration of the game.

Well, this is just the beginning of an era that will change terrains. We are sure more and more methods and skills will be developed to inculcate new technologies which will simplify content collaboration, sort compatibility issues and at the same time drive advertising. Till then let’s keep our fingers crossed and watch!