Our smartphones are becoming the primary portal for engaging with the virtual and physical worlds, so it’s exciting to imagine how they might have evolved by 2025. To discover more about mobile customer expectations for the future, we commissioned a survey into how people anticipate the mobile revolution developing. Asking 1,969 smartphone users in six countries, we gained valuable insights into perceptions of mobile experience ownership.
With mobiles likely to channel an increasing amount of personal and professional data, competition over mobile experience ownership will heat up. This begs the questions: who do consumers think should take responsibility?
The key players
Before delving into the results, let’s remind ourselves of the key stakeholders who will be vying for ownership of the mobile experience. First, there’s the handset manufacturers, the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung, who are of course extremely influential in determining how customers use their mobiles. Then there are the MNOs, providing the connectivity, which include Verizon, AT&T, Vodafone, Ericsson, Orange, T-Mobile etc. Finally, there’s the Over The Top (OTT) providers – companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Netflix. These are dominant mobile services, which could continue to grow in importance by 2025.
So, what do consumers think? Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most popular option was hardware providers/manufacturers, with just under half of the selections (46%). 29% said all three stakeholders will play an equally important role in the mobile experience, while 17% opted for MNOs. Finally, a small but significant number (8%) opted for OTT providers.
How will they win?
What’s certain is that all key players in the mobile ecosystem will need to invest in sophisticated connectivity solutions, ensuring that customers enjoy a frictionless and convenient mobile experience. Security and trust will also be crucial, as we’ve discussed before. While manufacturers will need to invest in end-to-end software security and tamper-proof hardware, MNOs and OTT providers will need to overcome the challenges posed by the expansion in data, making sure information is protected at every step of its journey. As we’ve said in our report, keeping end users happy will be a team game, at least for the next decade.
To see the complete picture , download our white paper and summary infographic. And let us know your thoughts by tweeting to us at @GemaltoMobile, or posting a comment below.
