Mobile development: Google strategy for 2011
- Eric Schmidt, Google's current CEO, provided sketchy explanations as to Google's strategy in 2011 focusing on mobile solutions. He considers three axes.
- The first two underpin its business model based on advertising revenue: developing the new (4G) mobile generation by making eight to ten megabytes networks available. A Long-Term Evolution (LTE) platform will make it possible to provide customised geo-location-based service offers. The second axis it to sell touchscreen smartphones, especially in the developing countries.
- The third one consists in creating mobile money. This means enabling access to financial services using current technologies, there again targeting the least developed countries. This point also encompasses the roll-out of NFC payment ability on the next version of its Android OS.
- The “mobile money” strategic axis further includes two sub-sections. The most advanced one concerns contactless payment through the “Android Gingerbread” project. This open version of Google’s OS would primarily target developed countries' mobile telecom operators. It would favour mobile banking/finance as well as POS payments.
- For the emerging economies, the strategy would be to rely on existing usage and proven IT resources (SMS payment, for instance) to respond to local needs in financial services. Google could then become a payment service provider by relying on its Web servers as well as on cheap smartphones' browsers.
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