Wireless technologies ‘have the power to reshape whole industries and create a future that is altogether different from today’s mobile commerce (m-commerce) world’, according to a new report from the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change.
The researchers of the
Future of Wireless: Different Than You Think, Bolder Than You Imagine report, which was released last week, talk of a ‘brave new world’ of ‘u-commerce’, which is a whole step above m-commerce.
U-commerce has a number of defining characteristics. These include round the clock, universal broadband connectivity; all platforms – internet, mobile devices, embedded sensors – interact with one another and mobile devices will combine features of wireless phones, hand held organisers, PCs and two-way pagers. People will not be able to live without these devices, according to Accenture.
“We believe it is in the always-on world of u-commerce that the real value of the ‘e’ and ‘m’ will be realised,” said John Beck, director of research at the Institute. “U-commerce is not a replacement for anything companies are doing today, but an extension of it. And it will be mandatory, not optional.”
According to the study, prospective businesses in this area can expect stunning growth. The global market for wireless internet-capable devices is set to grow 630% by 2005, by which time there will be more than 1.7 billion mobile connections. In the US alone, m-commerce transactions will be a $20 billion business by 2005.
The authors of the report warn operators of these wireless technologies not to opt for a ‘one-size-fitsp-all’ approach with consumers, but rather to offer information and services which are very specific to each user.
