Going mobile

Hi, VERY late in the day but - belated new year greetings ! Thanks for being here.

The months since the last post were spent on a whole lot of the usual seasonal things both personal and professional that one does this time of year . One highlight was a vacation back home in India where I encountered first hand the tremendous strides that mobile is making there cutting right across geography and demographics. When I asked the domestic help at my parents' home how he was spending new year's eve , he told me he was watching a movie. Gang outing ? Nope. On his phone. Nice ! 

A snapshot of  the growth in mobile users between 2006-2012 in the top five markets.

Country           2006 (Mn.)          2012 (Mn.)         CAGR (% p.a.)

China                    461                     1,112                        16 %

India                      166                        865                        32 %

USA                       230                        303                          5 % 

Indonesia                 64                        282                         28 %

Russia                    151                        262                        10 %

This is from an interesting Financial Times report on 4G development in China. 

(click for a larger view)

Marketing online media products in under-penetrated markets

This Google Search India ad has been making a stir on social media. Lovely piece of storytelling , touching some real emotional chords and all nicely linked to - and selling ! - the product. Fine work.

Interesting to see this communication from Google. The huge and  very under-penetrated Indian market presents a dream growth opportunity they will tap into and educating current non-users is a good first step. 

I can see similar parallels for the MENA region , particularly in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. There is especially much to be gained in KSA with its higher per capita purchasing power and relatively more developed infrastructure. While in markets like India and Egypt many , perhaps even most , non-users are from socioeconomic strata low enough to be permanently deprived of internet access (including due to illiteracy) , in KSA it would be more about habits and mindsets which can be actively addressed to unlock value. 

In all three cases , two points stand out.
1. Increasing mobile access including new,first time users bypassing the PC altogether.
2. Language. The case for Arabic is obvious enough but in India too vernacular content development will be critical to grow penetration.

Meanwhile , a report on the massive e-commerce growth in China. Incredible ! (Read here)