SWOT Analysis of the Apps Market - Case Study Example

Innovation & Enterprise: Apps Market Mobile phones have undergone many changes over the last few years due to a number of technological breakthroughsand innovations. Many applications have been added into them. These applications have become basis revenue for many commercial software providers, network operators and the government through taxation. The mobile applications vary from one type/brand and generation of mobile phone to the other. There has been a rapid expansion of the apps market. This has been attributed to factors like reduced prices of smartphones in places like Thailand, Indonesia, china and Philippines. Reduced prices of smartphones have attracted the attention of the urban youth. This has led to an increase in shipments of Smartphones globally. The expanding mobile apps market has encouraged vendors like Smartphone, platform MNOs and OS to invest resources in innovating relevant phone content and applications for mobile users. Drivers of the apps market are; mobile software developers, mobile phone operators, manufacturers of handsets and businesses, corporations, individuals and enterprises that need business-specific mobile applications. The enterprise idea  Products in the apps market are the various mobile broadband services that are offered through mobile devices like mobile phones. The apps market has been generally categorized into media and video, business, games, sports, music and audio and mobile website. These applications are designed for various types of technologies like the Android Mobile, iPod/iPhone, Microsoft Mobile, Apple, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony-Ericsson Verizon Wireless and Symbian. The mobile applications are sold to mobile phone manufactures or made available for direct purchase and downloading by mobile users via mobile application stores (MAS). The apps market product consumers consists of a large pool of target groups who utilize these mobile applications using their mobiles. The consumers have different needs hence the need for varied mobile applications. These include professionals, students, entrepreneurs, medical users and corporate users. Therefore, special corresponding features are needed for each segment of consumers in the apps market. The most common mobile applications that sell in the Apps market are games, email, LBS, MapQuest, social networking, XDA Developers, Night Vision Cam, business and finance, Network Info II among others. Some of the applications are web-based while others are not (Braun and Eckhaus 253). Different apps markets utilize the mobile apps in different ways depending on the segment of consumers it targets. For example, for an iPhone, its target market mainly consists of individuals who want to communicate with others, store information and get entertainment at the same time. The iPhone manufacturers have made sure that their product provides applications that meet consumer needs. However, the availability of other additional applications like website, PDA features and video in a single device makes the price higher. This is why the market for good apps market driving gargets like smartphones is still low compared to the general mobile phone market. (Sofien and Nabil 81), Mobile applications also present different benefits for each of these consumers apart from meeting their needs. For example, professionals need mobile applications that will enable be them be in touch and record information while moving about. This is well provided by applications from Mac OS X for keeping notes and records. Students on their part need a single stylish garget that performs multiple tasks and maintains individuality. The best apps for them are mobile website, TV shows, iPod and video. Entrepreneurs need mobile applications that will enable them to organize schedule details, organize and access contracts. The benefit presented to them by the iPhone applications include wireless access to address book and calendar. This enables them to check on contracts and appointments with so much ease from wherever they are. Corporate bodies utilize iPhone applications that enable them to conduct data input or access critical data while moving about. They use applications for notes and record keeping from mac OS X. the benefit presents to them by this is compatibility with wide range of available software. The website based applications are accessed via a browser interface over the internet or corporate intranet. Mobile application stores have been developed to offer access to mobile applications for consumers at various prices. Examples of mobile applications stores are, the Apple Store, Nokia Ovi Store, BlackBerry App World, Windows Marketplace and Google Android market. Apple is one of the popular apps stores. Trends in market are monitored through mobile application revenues, downloads and user base. The revenue accrued from the apps market varies among countries though there is a general upward trend in all countries. Main Competitors in the Mobile Apps Market Different software developers come up with the various mobile applications. They include Oracle, the Germany-based SAP AG among others (Sofien and Nabil 80). Oracle and SAP AG software corporations are the major competitors in the apps market. SAP AG was the largest software company as of 2009. SWOT analysis of the apps market Strengths The market is greatly expanding. This is due to different roles played by various stakeholders who earn revenue from the mobile apps market. For example, mobile operators assist the applications providers meet the customer needs. They encourage them to come up with applications needed by customers which their networks can support. They do this by establishing development platforms and business relations. The expansion of mobile application stores (MAS) has and will continue to greatly expand the apps market. Consumers are able to buy supplemental mobile applications, possibly at a fee (Coreen 153). Some of the mobile applications are more user friendly compared to applications found in PCs. There is no discriminatory approach in the development of the mobile applications. There is a huge and diverse workforce in the various mobile applications software developers and mobile phone manufactures. This makes it easy to develop and present non-biased mobile applications to the market. The mobile applications software developers have regional subsidiaries for their operations. For example, the headquarters of SAP AG is in Germany. However, it has other bases of operations across continents. This has helped to greatly reduce cultural differences. Non-biased mobile applications have enabled the market to expand among people of all cultural backgrounds. There is a diversified product portfolio. This has ensured a sustained market. Consumers have a choice to use applications they are interested. They also have a choice to download and run any advanced application they wish to. This is also to the limitless potentialities for upgradability presented by various mobile phone brands like iPhones. Smartphones are compatible with various products from the mobile applications stores. The mobile applications market is highly competitive yet it is gaining momentum worldwide. This has led to increased potentiality of the market (Braun and Eckhaus 492). Increased potentiality has encouraged more resource investment from new and established players for the innovation of relevant content and applications for the end consumers. Examples of players are Smartphone, platform MNOs and OS vendors. These investments have led to continual production of quality mobile applications. This has encouraged greater utility of the mobile apps among various target groups in the mobile apps market. There is also cooperation between key players and third-party stores in order to offer new mobile applications and open more storefronts. The success of Apple’s app shop has motivated other key players to follow the trend by introducing new storefronts. Revenue and profitability of the apps market is rising steadily. This makes it easy to sustain the enterprise idea. The apps market is among the major revenue earners. This makes it to have government support ad protection. It accounts for huge annual amounts of revenues in many countries. According to Sofien and Nabil (79), the generation of more mobile application stores has helped the key players to differentiate what they offer. There is also customer loyalty and increases revenue streams as a result of operating through mobile apps stores. Mobile apps stores have greatly changed the mobile market in a positive way. This is due to the resultant high intake in consumer and enterprise segments. There is a great uptake in existing and emerging markets. Mobile applications have already captured the attention and imagination of many users. This is attributed to the increased use of mobile phones worldwide. This has made the mobile apps market to gain such a high potentiality that does not show any signs of backward trends. Weaknesses Some of the applications present technological constrains to its users. For example applications like touch screens in mobiles. This constrains market expansion. Furthermore, applications that are web-based cannot be utilized in regions with poor mobile website connections. Most of the applications present power challenges to its users. They consume a lot of power from the mobile gargets. This discourages constant utilization especially in places with poor power supply. Some of the applications are not compatible with old generation phones. This restricts utility by people who have such phones and they are not ready to buy the new generation phones. Opportunities The mobile apps market has an opportunity to expand more due to expanding market potentialities especially in applications that are frequently needed by users. These cannot be provided by computers or PCs due to portability problems. Manufactures produce mobile phones with standard defined applications. However, network operators need applications that they can support. This is a chance for the apps market to expand more. It does not need to spend much doing a needs analysis in such areas since the network operators do it well for their own gain. The apps market has turned out to be a source of revenue for them too. There is an increased manufacture of smartphones due to increased competition between the various mobile manufactures. This has led to a drop in prices of smartphones. The drop in prices of smartphones and applications is such a good chance to expand the market. More people will be having smartphones hence able to utilize the various mobile apps. There is also a general worldwide drop in charges presented by network operators due to competition. This presents a chance to expand the market to those people who could not have afforded the high network operator charges when accessing web-based mobile applications. Mobiles have a significance presence in the wireless network unlike PCs. Most things are now going mobile. People are shifting much more to individualism and applications that allow for individual convenience in their utilization. This presents a big opportunity for the apps market expansion easily by providing them with lots of applications available in less portable big screen gargets. Applications that allow for individualization and customization should be increased (Weider et al 137). Threats Software piracy is a major threat. This threatens the revenue of the mobile application software corporations. The prices charged for internet-based applications are still high for some people. This is a thread to market expansion. Competition has led to more and better innovations. There is also a constant dynamism in needs and tastes of consumers. This makes it hard to predict the size and lifespan of the market. People always rush for better applications. This presents a hard time for mobile application software developers. They can develop an application only for their competitors to produce a better one quickly (Etahn 250). There is also a threat of attack of smartphones by computer viruses. This can render some of the applications unusable. Laptops are still a major threat to the mobile phone apps market. This is because of their portability and their ability to process more and varied types of information. They can also accommodate more applications than what gargets with small screen can do. Conclusion With increased rates of uptake and usability of smartphones and reduced prices for applications, the apps market is bound to expand even more this year and in the coming years. This is due the role played by various stakeholders in search of revenue from the mobile apps market. For example, manufactures produce mobile phones with standard defined applications while network operators want applications that enable them get more revenue. They want the new applications that can be supported and used in the mobile phones they support, for example M-Money. For a better market, diversification should be done. Adequate incentives should be offered to various target groups in the apps market. Works Cited Braun Peter and Eckhaus Richard. (2008). Experiences on model-driven software development for mobile applications. Online. http://www.live-pr.com/en/research-and-markets-world-mobile-applications-r1048763987.htm. Viewed on 2nd March, 2011 Coreen Bailor (2006). “For CRM, ERP, and SCM, SAP Leads the Way”. Online. http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=6162. Viewed on. 2nd march, 2011 Etahn Cerami. Web services essentials. Sebastopol, CA. O’Reilly and associates Inc. 2002 Sofien Beji and Nabil Kadhi. An overview of mobile applications architecture and the associated. The 4th international conference on wireless and mobile communications. 2008 Weider Yu, Tamseela Amjad, Himani Goel, and Tanakom Talawat. An approach of mobile database design methodology for mobile software solutions. The 3rd international conference on Grid and persuasive computing-workshops. 2008 Read More