Apple vs. Google in Mobile

Read a good article in Business Week titled "Apple vs. Google" about how the two companies are on a collision course for each other. The recent acquisitions of AdMob (by Google for $750M) and Quattro Wireless (by Apple for $275M) and the uncanny similarities between the iPhone and the Nexus One highlight how similar the two firms strategies may be. They both want to dominate the mobile industry.

According to the analysts, mobile is the next key battleground for digital riches:

The key battleground in the near term is mobile computing. Analysts who once tingled when talking about the Internet are getting that same old feeling over mobile's potential. Morgan Stanley's (MS) Mary Meeker predicts that within five years more users will tap into the Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs. Desktop Internet use led to the rise of Google, eBay (EBAY), and Yahoo, but the mobile winners are still emerging. "Now is the time to get going," says Doug Clinton, an analyst with Piper Jaffray (PJC). "It's about winning the battle today rather than getting into the fight tomorrow." Billions of dollars are up for grabs in selling phones, software, and services.

The money in mobile advertising is small—about $2 billion last year, according to researcher Gartner, compared with $60 billion for the overall Web. But figuring out how to make mobile advertising more profitable is a lot more important than merely getting in as the hockey-stick curve begins to move upward. A company that can nail mobile ads and share the wealth with the growing legion of app developers—freelance software writers who create all those sometimes-useful (Business Card Reader), sometimes time-killing (Flick Fishing) mobile programs—could pull in the best of the lot. Create the strongest ecosystem of apps and devices, and, the thinking goes, you leave rivals gasping to keep up. "The mobile platform that creates the most ways to make money wins," says David Hyman, chief executive of MOG, an Internet music service that's developing mobile apps.

It'll be interesting to see how many of the same battles that played out on the Web will play out in mobile. Browser/platform, advertising, search, shopping, e-commerce, etc.? Seems like they could all play out again in mobile. Definitely warrants some additional research.

Comments

David "El Salsero" said…

I think the price points are still relatively high compared to Web. It doesn't help that carriers have to much control. Plans under $50 bucks--sign me up.

January 21, 2010 at 11:39 AM

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