Does this question trigger some thoughts into your mind?
Whether this question takes you into a tailspin or you are relating to it would completely depend upon your digital journey.
When we already have high penetration levels of computer, where’s the question of mobile becoming one?
Has Mobile really evolved with time?
What about consumers — have their mindset changed over this period or are they still the same?
What are the purposes that mobile is able to fulfill now as against earlier?
Is the personal computer market growing more than the mobile market or is it vice versa?
Are we in the era of Multi-screens?
Mobile Background in India
The real journey of mobile started in India in the late ’90s and closer to 2k revolution. This was the era when the Ambani patriarch had given the vision of having the mobile in the hands of every consumer. The credit of the mobile revolution truly goes to this Group. There were enough and more challenges that they faced in the journey however they strived to establish themselves with a great name. Those were also the early days of Value Added Services (VAS) and the era of add-ons had just kicked in. The handsets market leaders used to be Blackberry in the corporate segment and Nokia in the home segment.
Mobile Waves in India
Let’s attempt to unfold this mystery by looking at what is really the mobile background. The journey of the transformation that we see in Mobile phones and the evolution of its utility can be looked in the form of waves which have impacted us as consumers. For the sake of convenience, let’s look at the following:
Late 90’s — Era of 2k: This was truly the era of fancy and having a mobile truly used to be a thing by itself until the Dhirubhai Ambani Pioneer Offer (DAPO) came up as a true disruption and changed the entire dynamics of the industry.
2005–2015: This was the era where series of mobile phone brands came up in the market and the phase of market leadership which was with Nokia in the consumer segment and Blackberry for the Corporate segment gradually faded with other entrants like Samsung, Apple and plethora of other brands including Micromax.
2015 onwards — This was the era where social media started showing its domination and then came the mobile phones with pre-installed apps which became the talk of the town. New brands took leadership positions and the likes of MI, Redmi, One Plus amongst others took good mind share alongwith market share. Android also became the undisputed market leader with maximum penetration amongst both the classes and masses. Mobile phone brands started exhibiting mobile premieres on the likes of Amazon and Flipkart. The speed of app downloads started in this era through their market had clearly gained momentum in the previous one. The mobile phones in this phase had also become powerful enough to fulfill the computing needs in a much better way.
Era Post-COVID 19 — This is and will be the era where smartphone which had already become quintessential in the previous era will move to the next level wherein more efficiency and higher capacity with enhanced features will continue to evolve. Make in INDIA having gained momentum will also encourage international players to set up their manufacturing plants in India.
One thing which is common in each of these waves is that the mobile devices which have come up with time have been more powerful with enhanced capability than their preceding generations. These waves have also been quite common to the extent that price has always been a huge differentiator in a value-driven market like India.
Current Scenario — Focus in the Post Covid Era
The interesting aspect of each of these eras is something that each of us has lived in this period can clearly unfold in front of us. Having briefly gone through the background of how mobiles have evolved to its usage today, we can clearly see as well as say that they have been indispensable and have also got reinvented on its utility during the phase of the current pandemic. One common thing most people having smartphones have done is attending webinars and video meetings. It has gone up to truly unexpected levels.
How has our life changed not only in Urban but also in Rural markets of India? The one thing which has had the maximum impact is the penetration of Over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Voot, Hotstar Disney amongst others. Can we imagine without having computers or laptops with every consumer in the country, where is the audience watching all this — it’s all on their mobile phones which comes not only at much cheaper prices but also with phenomenally low cost of data. OTT is also a perfect example of how multi-screen is getting showcased and has truly arrived.
India is the largest app download market in the world. Can we imagine a day to day purpose that we may have for which we do not have an app today…it has only been possible due to the transformation which the market has seen from being a Mobile-first economy to an App first economy? The journey of the transformation has been absolutely incredible. It’s only a matter of time that the space in the Mobile phone will start to compete with the best available computer or laptop.
The real growth of this is coming from the advanced telecom networks and the rural foray that brands have been getting into. The penetration levels of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning has just been on the rise with chatbots and more options to consumers who are buying a particular kind of product.
Some trending areas connected to the Mobile World are:
- Power of Content catering to Mobile consumer
- Personalization for Mobile
- Mobile 1st Experience
- Power and Rise of OTT platforms
- The convergence of Content and Commerce
- Mobile-Only Subscription models
- Rise of Multi-Screen
- Growth and India’s leadership position in the App economy across a plethora of consumer needs
- Enhanced Mobile banking features with better security have just been on the rise and only becoming better
In some of the developed economies of the World, mobile phone is already atop of computers and that has been possible only due to increased processor power, enhanced battery life, vastly improved networking speeds, and larger screen sizes on mobile devices, the gradual shift from the desktop is just at an unprecedented rise. High-end smartphones are capable of even managing 4K streaming including gaming. It has almost become primary computing as well as the internet-connected device. If we now look at the emerging add-ons of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), the role and play areas of a smartphone will keep challenging the thinking of the user in varied ways.
To amplify your learning with more details and how the connected consumer of India is evolving here’s a stunning report published by titled ‘The 3Cs of the Connected Indian Consumer — Context. Commerce.Content’
https://www.inmobi.com/2020IndiaYearbook/localhost/2020IndiaYearbook
A lot can be spoken about this area however the reality is that despite all the growth of the mobile phone industry, computers will co-exist and the users of both will continue to evolve with time.
What do you resonate the most with? Do share your thoughts and comments.
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