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Mobile commerce, which is widely
predicted to be the next wave of e-commerce. Sometimes known as m-business, it
encapsulates any kind of information transfer or transaction that can be
initiated from a mobile phone or other portable information appliance
device. Commonly cited examples include booking of services such as flights
or other tickets, personal banking and share trades. Some schemes have
concentrated on smaller transactions, such as the buying of pizzas or
newspapers. Currently , the biggest market for m-commerce services is in
Europe, where mobile-phone penetration is extremely high and still growing
faster than anywhere else.
A 2000 report by the Boston Consulting
Group estimated that global m-commerce revenue could reach $100 billion by
2003, although most such estimates have since been substantially revised.
Dissatisfaction with speed, the awkwardness of typing on mobile devices and
security concerns have conspired to slow the uptake of m-commerce services,
and many consumers have already abandoned their use. But Frost & Sullivan, a
consulting and research firm, estimated that the value of mobile
transactions would still reach $25 billion in 2006, about 15% of total
e-commerce consumer spending. |
