Competing For The Mobile World Cup
| – The Game Is The Same But The Rules Are All New |
For a football/soccer player to win the world cup requires mainly, to be good enough to be chosen for the national team. Secondly it requires the team to have strong players on all positions, defence, centre and strikers. The success for the individual player depends both on his own will and talent, but moreover on the will and talent of his team-mates with whom he is playing. The player might optimise his role on the team but he will not go far in the tournaments if the other players do not make the same effort for the team. On top of this, all the good moves and the team effort is without result if the referee in the shape of the national authorities tries to destroy the game by constantly judging off-site of flashing the yellow card. Strand Consult have identified and analysed 10 Mega Trends for the mobile industry, which without any doubt will change the mobile industry forever.The threat and possibilities of the Discount Mobile Service Providers,Falling profit margins on basic mobile services (voice, SMS) as a result of competition,The use of outsourcing – to minimize OPEX,Controlled investment in infrastructure – to reduce CAPEX,The use of micro-segmentation (Mobile operators will use sub-brands and producers of mobile terminals will introduce a wide range of different terminal models),Higher marketing expenses – partly because of the use of micro-segmentation,Stock Rotation Risk – the result of the terminal producers larger product portfolio,New business models in the mobile value chain – the existing business models are an impediment on economic growth,A more complex value chain – a growing number of different players seek the place in the mobile value chain,Mobile penetration vs. SIM-penetration – there is an important difference.As it is clear, these trends are all about the ”team” and the composition and sharing of the power in the market will change. Operators, who for a long time have enjoyed the role as the idealised strikers, will have to get used to the rules change, and that they have no way of stopping this. They can not stop the “referees” from introducing new players who suddenly also takes the roles as coaches and puts new players into the team and sometimes even in the role as strikers. The operators must realize that the most important thing is the team ability to function in unity, and that no one player can be egocentric, going solo and taking all the glory. The old days of the World Cup where strikers where the innovators are long over. Today new young players most not from the soccer world, who have sharpened their skills in other sports are the innovators. Each of the 10 mega-trends that we have identified has been individually analysed in depth in Strand Consults new report “Mega trends in the mobile industry ” (300+ pages), and how the tendencies will affect both handset manufacturers, content providers, mobile operators and dealers is comprehensively described. The report concludes amongst other things that there is absolutely no doubt that all the market players in the value chain, due to these 10 Mega-trends, will be forced to totally re-evaluate and adapt their business if they want to remain in business in the future. A “business as usual” approach to the future will for the same reason mean the start of the end for those mobile players that do nothing and the report therefore puts forward suggestions for which considerations and actions each market player should examine and launch to prepare for the effect of the 10 Mega-trends As conclusion, a good cooperation between the market players will ensure results and goals. To much insecurity between the chains could end up in a giant loss. |
Mega trends in the mobile industry – a question of life and death |
