Social networking in 10 years will become a major force for growth and a must-have application in the mobile business, analysts at iSuppli said today.
“Companies must transform their business strategies if they want to maintain their relevance,” the company said. “The nature and location of value creation in the… market will shift due to the influence of wireless social networking.”
The shift will start next year in conjunction with the growth of high-speed, content-centric phones such as the Apple iPhone 3G and others. In addition to consumers creating much of their own content, this generation of devices will be good for service providers that want to offer premium services, iSuppli said.
Social networking won’t be without its obstacles. Industry battles in the middle of the next decade will be especially tough for control of the content and services. However, by 2020, there will be nearly 7 billion wireless accounts, so even a tiny market share can translate into hefty revenue for operators. “Wireless social networking service could be provided for a global average of around $15.30 per month per user, using constant 2007 U.S. dollars,” the analysts wrote.
