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Mobile mêlée | The mobile OS wars, where are we now when considering your next electronic parking ticket system?
When considering your next ticketing system or an upgrade to an electronic parking ticket system from your current parking ticket software or traffic ticket system, choices abound! More parking tickets and traffic citations are being doled out from Android and Apple devices. With the effect of digital tickets on smart phone sales, it is becoming more relevant than ever to stay ahead of the curve on the rapidly changing landscape of this competitive digital market in what can only be deemed: The Mobile OS Wars!The following headlines read like eulogies for the beleaguered mobile tech giants, some former, some dwindling some still wielding power, albeit diminished.
❝ Death of the Android Blackberry: The Rise & Fall of an EmpireMicrosoft Dethroned…for GoodiOS Retro, Brings Back Worst of the 80s
Mobile OS wars seem to be entering a new era. Announced in October 2012, the number of smartphone users has surpassed 1 billion. In August 2012, the smartphone and tablet market share surpassed the 50% threshold in the U.S. with Android and Apple grabbing 92% of the global market share.The market is starting to saturate and these once white hot products are now becoming commoditized leaving little for stragglers. Although, what can only be viewed as a courageous (or foolhardy) move in this brave new world, surprisingly, Mozilla’s plans to launch an OS have gotten off to a strong start.One of the most notable casualties of late of course is Blackberry, who, despite the launch of BB10, can only hope to at best, stabilize a near vertical plummet. Regardless of corporate rebranding, ditching the RIM moniker for the more globally known product brand Blackberry, a phoenix-like rebirth into anything other than a small niche oriented player, is about the only positive spin one can put on Blackberry’s, frankly depressing, decline. Even Apple has not been immune to dreary forecasts, post-Steve Jobs, suggesting that its zenith has also come and gone.
Mobile market on fire while other markets get burned: The future of parking
For the first time since 2001 PCs are experiencing a decline in sales and even laptops are increasingly taking a back seat. Tablets are redefining mobile as they become more powerful and convenient for personal and professional use. Companies who have built an empire on flagship products like the PC home computer or PC laptop are now being forced to cannibalize their market share capitulating to the demand for more mobile devices. Apple for example, is looking at new markets to help regain ground in sliding sales of the Macbook Pro, looking at ‘smart watches’ that would perform many of the functions of a smartphone. A study by Gartner corroborates what is likely to be an inevitable steady decline of the PC, especially with recent news of the failure of Windows 8 and new ultra thin “utrabooks” to slow PC user-base churn:
“PC makers began the year with hope that a new wave of lightweight laptops called ultrabooks would provide a sales lift. But the ultrabooks haven’t been compelling enough to overcome the growing popularity of smartphones and tablet computers. Those mobile devices are reducing the need for consumers and businesses to buy new PCs or replace older ones…This transformation was triggered by the availability of compelling low-cost tablets in 2012, and will continue until the installed base of PCs declines to accommodate tablets as the primary consumption device”.
Where is the mobile market now?
The remainder of this article, to be continued next week, looks at reviews done on current smartphone and tablet market share and the factors that drive growth. We all know what doesn’t work, as Blackberry became a working model for what not to do; but, is there a success story to be championed in this mêlée and should we be surprised at who the winner appears to be or, is this just history repeating itself?
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