This feels like the early 90's all over again except that in the mobile space, there are multiple heavyweights duking it out for supremacy in the mobile space. Here an except from a Seeking Alpha article summarizing the cage match that's shaping up:iPhone is the coolest and most feature rich platform so far. Think individuals and consumers, but lacks base in Asia.
There are only so many developers and there is only so much time. At some point developers will have to choose sides–or at least eliminate a few platforms as options. In the end, this selection process is likely to come down to a few obvious items:
- Money;
- Reach of the platform;
- Developer relations.
Blackberry is entrenched in corporate space, but again, is weak in Asia.
Windows Mobile is the Rodney Dangerfield platform, getting no respect from anyone but still shipping a lot of units through HTC. Never underestimate Mister Softie and their developer relationships.
Android is free and has cachet, but no installed base. Asia might be all over this one because it's the most open of all.
Nokia? Put it this way, nobody in our office has one. But the latest figures show that Nokia shipped 15.6 million smartphones in 2008 Q4, representing 40.8% worldwide market share.
Palm? Could be their last chance to survive.
Instead of focusing on a single platform, maybe ACT360 should create an e-learning tool that allows content providers to publish to ALL of them.
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