The
mobile growth story in India
should really be looked at as a course of multidimensional evolution. When
this evolution started, it was mainly aimed at addressing and overcoming the
great challenge of staying connected. This was very effectively accomplished in
record time. ‘From no connectivity to wireless connectivity’ was the earlier
push that created a big bang in the Indian telecom market. Over a period of 10
odd years, a better quality of service evolved that encompassed changes such as
voice clarity , quicker delivery of text messages & emails. This was an
important but basic step.
Today,
voice is almost passé. The mandate of the common mobile user nowadays is loud
and clear – Social Networking, Instant Messaging, Entertainment and multimedia
content and, perhaps, a bit of email. A good way to look at this is to consider
that even if voice calling was free, you probably wouldn’t call your friend
multiple times a day. On the other hand, data services are a window to a whole
lot of content that the user wants through the day. The great thing here is
that the mobile phone is not only something that is personal but, added to
that, if it can perform well enough to meet most of your immediate
requirements, then you don’t need to fire up your PC or laptop to surf the
internet or see the latest cricket scores. There has also been a distinct
change in consumption patterns. A lot less people are watching long TV shows, while
a lot more want to “snack” on 3 minute
videos off the net, which they don’t mind watching on their small screen. It is
no wonder then that, almost across all social classes, the mobile phone has
become the ubiquitous & personal media & communication device!
While
the consumption preference seems to be inclined
towards going the way of data over voice, it is being complemented by the
advent of smart phones. This is leading to people quickly upgrading and
replacing their feature phones with new touch screen-enabled
multimedia-playing, 3G-compatible smart phones. But, this shift in the Indian
mobile user’s buying behavior, towards better features like, enriched
multimedia experience and entertainment comes with a big drawback. Although Smart
phones are better compared to feature phones they are more complex to use and come
nowhere near the easy usage characteristics of the trust old feature phones.
Therefore,
the conundrum is a toss-up between features vs. ease of use /
convenience.
Mobile
Devices & handset manufacturers have already taken note of this big poser
and are already spending many dollars on “uncomplicating” the smartphone
without compromising on features and speed. They are coming out with what the
industry is beginning to call the Superphone. I believe this will be another
game changer in the industry.
Google
coined the term “superphone” when they launched their Nexus One. The company
described the device as optimized from a silicon perspective, a hardware
perspective and a software perspective. What we must however remember is that the
end users are least interested in the silicon, hardware and software
application inside the phone. What they want is a phone that is powerful, yet
easy and convenient to use.
So,
if we were to sum up what mainly appeals to the mobile user in general terms,
it is: a superphone that has deeper access to hardware capabilities, where the
hardware is a step above what you would see in a smartphone; screens that are larger, in
excess of four inches, in some cases; there is an impressive camera, generally between five and
eight mega pixels, that lends itself to high-quality photo and video capturing;
has multiple microphones with noise cancellation for better sound, both for
calls and video recording. In other words, the multimedia capabilities are well
placed in this generation of mobile phone. The software applications that drive
the enhanced hardware connect the various features seamlessly and are highly
intuitive to bring you a unified super experience. For example, the camera
takes a high res picture, then offers tools to help you modify the picture as
per your needs, then out pops an interface that helps you share the modified
picture with your social network via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc., and also
connects you to that particular application for you to further interact with
your network. Not too bad for something that fits in your pocket.
The
scenario in India
is not too far behind the West as some Indian brands are becoming very active
on this front. After all, the Indian mobile market in the top 20 cities of India is considered
to be action packed and mature. Although the users are drawn to features
offered by the mobile device, ultimately how these features are presented to
them could be the key differentiator. Can they put together this bundle of
magic in an uncomplicated package with enhanced but easy user experience?
That is the million dollar question.