Five mobile trends that changed the industry in 2011

1. Feature phones are here to stay
Despite the rise and rise of the smartphone, it became clear that the feature phone is very much a part of the South African mobile landscape. Moreover, it seems this is unlikely to change despite the introduction of incredibly competitively priced smartphones. The fact of the matter is, some people just prefer feature phones, whether for the extended battery life, the lower cost, or because they just want to use their phones for making calls and sending texts.

According to Google's Our Mobile Planet stats, 85% of South Africans use a feature phone, and according to Visiongain's latest research Low Cost Handsets, Feature Phones and Entry Level Smartphone Report 2011-2016, feature phones accounted for more than 70% of global handset sales in 2011 and the company predicts this trend will continue, specifically in emerging markets. Ovum goes on to say that it expects the feature phone app market to double by 2016, with revenues of US$1bn.

2. The iPhone is no holy grail

Far too many companies made the mistake of thinking that if they had an iPhone app they could happily tick the box marked "mobilised". Far from it. According to Google, iOS and the iPhone accounts for 4% of the South African smartphone market. Yes, that's right, 4% of 15% of the total mobile market. In other words, not very many people.

3. Analysis paralysis

Taken together, these first two trends point to the highly fragmented nature of the mobile landscape, resulting in a level of analysis paralysis when it comes to the mobilisation of a marketing strategy or a business (once you've realised that an iPhone app alone is not going to cut it, of course). Companies and agencies need to work out which is the best way to reach the most number of people while still offering the best user experience.

4. Mobile only

Talk of a mobile first market has changed to talk of the mobile-only market - referring to the fact that for some people, a mobile phone is going to be their only way of connecting to the internet. This points to a wider trend that is seeing the realisation that the mobile device is not just a smaller desktop device. So, far from seeing things evolve in the same way the desktop did, the mobile experience is taking on a life of its own, and in same cases even beginning to affect the evolution of the desktop.

5. Power to the people

No review of mobile in 2011 would be complete without a hat tip to the power of the mobile phone to share information like never before. From toppling governments in North Africa, to sharing information about natural disasters, to counselling vulnerable members of society, the mobile phone has changed the communication landscape forever.