In the June 2010 issue of eContent Magazine, Newstex president Larry Schwartz and a number of content publishing and technology professionals discussed the current state of mobile apps and the future of mobile content for business growth.

The Apple App Store launched in July 2008 with Apple’s iPhone becoming the market leader in a new category that grew faster than anyone could have imagined.  Today, businesses and content publishers are desperately trying to find the right recipe for success in the world of mobile apps — a world that now includes multiple players, including the BlackBerry, Google Android, Palm, and more.  The first step — defining a mobile strategy — is proving to be difficult to nail down with businesses and content publishers unsure whether they should have an app and which device (or devices) to focus on.

Schwartz is quoted in the article explaining the reasons why having a mobile app strategy is so important but also acknowledging that businesses and content publishers have more questions than they have answers at this point, simply because it’s still so early in the mobile app lifecycle.  Schwartz says:

“For our customer’s the appeal is extending the brand and content onto mobile, and creating a new revenue stream,” Schwartz says. “But I really see it as extending the network from the desktop to mobile. The current generation of B2B content customers are primarily desktop-oriented. The next generation will be mobile.” He believes the real battle for publishers as they move to mobile is finding the right business model. “Do you pay a one time fee? A monthly subscription? Does that entitle you to use the content on any device? Does the iPad have a different pricing model then the iPhone? All of these questions need to be sorted out and answered and that’s going to take time. … By 2011, we’ll have good metrics and a much better idea what content people are willing to pay for.  We know the appetite is there, and I think the iPad will become a very important product for content companies.”

A study by Chetan Sharma Consulting and GetJar revealed recently that 7 billion mobile apps were downloaded by consumers in 2009, and that number is expected to increase to 50 billion by 2012, equating to a $17.5 billion market.  Consumers have already demonstrated that they want to access content via mobile apps.  The onus now lies on businesses and content publishers to try to discover the elusive recipe for success that delivers the right kind of content and features to the right customers at the right price point and via the right distribution points (i.e., iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Android, etc.).

Does your business have a mobile app to deliver your content yet?

You can read the complete article on the eContent Magazine Web site, and you can follow the link to check out the Newstex mobile apps.

According to a study by NPD Group, sales of Android smartphones beat sales of iPhones in the United States during the first quarter of 2010 for the first time.  However, BlackBerry devices held onto the majority of market share.

Here is the first quarter 2010 sales breakdown between the big three:

1. BlackBerry = 36% market share
2. Android = 28% market share
3. iPhone = 21% market share

There are a couple of factors helping to boost Android sales above iPhone sales: more carriers (iPhones are only available with AT&T) and better promotions (buy one get one free at Verizon Wireless).

As more and more people trade up from traditional mobile phones to smartphone devices, the demand for mobile apps will also increase with the most useful and entertaining apps drawing the most attention.  We’re also likely to start seeing more and more apps with pricetags attached to them as well as an increase in mobile advertising, which studies show is more effective than online advertising (via eMarketer).

Newstex is already very active in creating mobile apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android and BlackBerry with several mobile apps already launched and many more on the way.  You can follow the links below to learn about Newstex mobile apps that have already been launched, and stay tuned to the Newstex blog for news about new mobile app launches!

• Newstex Mobile App
• PR Newswire Mobile App
• SIIA Mobile App
• Newsonomics Mobile App

Do you own a smartphone?  What device do you have and why?  Leave a comment and share your opinion on the battle of the smartphones.

Image: Flickr

In marketing, there are consumers who are considered ‘early adopters’ or products and brands, and there are consumers who fall into the ‘laggards’ category.  The latter consumer group is slow to try new products and prefers to wait for others to test drive them first.  Laggards need to fully understand the benefits that products can deliver to them before they pull out their hard-earned money and buy them.

In 2009, the smartphone market took a big jump when laggards (including members of the baby boomer generation) embraced the benefits of having access to the Internet and mobile apps.  2009 marked the year that devices like the Apple iPhone and Google Droid moved from being cool new toys to truly useful and helpful products.

The chart below from eMarketer (via a comScore study) shows the break down of mobile device ownership by age range as of November 2009.

Smartphone sales are expected to grow in record numbers in 2010, eventually eclipsing personal computer sales.  It’s interesting to imagine how different the above chart will look at the end of 2010.  Just 20 years ago, almost no one had a mobile phone.  Today, 55% of baby boomers consider their mobile phones to be a necessity.  As people from all age ranges and demographics begin to rely more and more on mobile apps, that percentage will surely grow.

Could you live without your mobile device?  Would you want to?  What app can’t you live without?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

According to research company Gartner, more people will buy smartphones by 2012 than PCs (via Reuters).  With that growth in smartphone purchases will come an even bigger growth in the development of mobile apps for those smartphones.  In 18-months, smartphone owners downloaded over 3 billion apps from Apple’s App Store.  Considering that sales of iPhones are expected to grow by 50% this year while sales of PCs are only expected to grow by 20%, Gartner’s predictions don’t seem too far off base.

The vast majority of mobile apps are offered for free or for less than $1.  By offering mobile apps for low costs, developers and companies expect to earn a comfortable return based on a higher quantity of downloads than a higher price would deliver.  However, precedent has been set for offering valuable content for a higher price tag (read “Even Expensive iPhone Apps Sell“).

Clearly, the mobile app market is growing fast, and given the shift in buying behavior to smartphones from PCs in the immediate future, creating an app strategy should be on the strategic planning radar of every company.  Mobile apps aren’t limited to iPhones anymore.  BlackBerry, Google, and Palm are growing in terms of mobile app availability, too.  Consumers are driving a shift to mobility that will only continue to grow.

Now, if only my current mobile phone contract would expire so I can get a new smartphone and some cool apps!

Image: Flickr

Today, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) announced the launch of its first mobile application for accessing social media content from SIIA and Authoritative Content from Newstex.

The application is available through the Apple iTunes Store for both iPhones and iPod touches (search for siia or newstex), and it will be available for Google Android-enabled phones in the future.

A free trial version is available, and SIIA Content Division members can request complimentary access to a limited number of licenses for premium content.

The new SIIA and Newstex iPhone app is an easy to use mobile resource that helps users access authoritative news and social media content, including blogs, Twitter and video content, at anytime.

In a press release from the SIIA, Newstex President Larry Schwartz said, “More and more people are tapping social media through applications that provide content from a handful of sources.  We believe this application creates significant marketing and revenue opportunities for publishers and aggregators, as well as associations of all types.”

You can read the complete SIIA press release here.

Today, Newstex announced the release of a new Authoritative Content iPhone App that delivers authoritative content to consumers at their fingertips and at anytime.

The Newstex Authoritative Content Distribution System (“CDS”) for iPhones® is an end-to-end system that enables distributors and publishers to private-label their own content, as well as Authoritative Content from Newstex, on the wildly-popular iPhone and iPod Touch devices from Apple.

The Newstex iPhone CDS offers distributors and publishers the following features:

• Distribution of proprietary content, as well as Authoritative Content from Newstex.
• A private-label iPhone App that fully integrates with any distributor’s or publisher’s corporate brand
• Support for text, images, audio and video, including active hyperlinks
• Remote configuration capability for enabling/disabling content and customizing the private-label App’s look-and-feel
• Enterprise-grade, back office reporting, accounting and analytics

Here’s how it works:

1. Distributors and publishers that partner with Newstex to deliver Authoritative Content to their professional customers via Newstex’s revolutionary iPhone CDS can customize the Newstex app to provide a uniquely-branded experience to end-users.
2. Professional customers simply download the distributor’s or publisher’s private-label app to their iPhones or iPod Touches and give their end-users an activation code to access a custom content set.
3. End-users can immediately begin accessing proprietary content from the distributor or publisher, as well as Authoritative Content from Newstex.
4. Using the advanced capabilities and rich user interface of the iPhone and iPod Touch, Newstex’s private-label app syncs via WiFi or cellular network and downloads the latest full-text news, blogs, twitters and video from Newstex directly to the device.

The Newstex iPhone App—available free from the Apple App store—demonstrates how the basic App will function when deployed on private-label basis.  You can get more details here, and be sure to check it out in the Apple App store (you must have iTunes installed on your Mac or PC to view the app demo).  You really do have to see it to believe what it can do!