Mobile – 2012: Mobile is now the remote control of your life

Henry Lawson, CEO at nFluence, gave a positive outlook of the mobile industry at MediaTel Group’s Mobile – 2012, The Year of Reckoning? event on Friday, saying that mobiles have become the remote controls of our lives.

Lawson believes that smartphones have been the game-changer, especially with ownership now standing at 53% of the UK population (IAB/PwC). He said that software and media is “where the excitement is” now.

In a presentation opening the morning event, Lawson told delegates that Nokia is still the biggest manufacturer, while Android is leading the battle for the number one operating system. However, Apple’s iOS is “where the 3G traffic is”.

In terms of tablets, 90% of 3G traffic is going through Apple iPads, with only a very small amount going through Android and other devices.

Lawson warned the industry to be “very careful” about advertising on mobile, with research showing that consumers would rather ads on their desktop computer or laptop, rather than their smartphone or tablet. 64% of people would be ‘really upset’ if they received ads unsolicited on their smartphone/tablet, according to YouGov.

“Consumers do like vouchers and deals but they still want control – they do not want spam on their mobiles,” Lawson said, explaining that consumers are “aware of data issues and being monitored by their mobile activity”.

He used the quote: “We know so much about you; we don’t know anything at all” to ask delegates whether mobile gives access to too much data?

On m-commerce, Lawson said Starbucks is a good example of how it can work – referring to the opportunities around mobile payments, as seen with the new Starbucks Card mobile app, as the “magic of mobile”.

Click here to download Lawson’s full presentation.