Part - I

It is not very often that you will hear the word "handset" in Nokia Media, the Mobile Content Management division of the world’s leading cellular phone manufacturer. Call it content hub, multimedia device or anything else but do not refer to it as a "handset".

In the cellular phone industry, battles are fought on many fronts; the latest among them is in the cellular content management arena. The space was always complicated because of the participation of players belonging to different industries. It just got more complex as a result of the arrival of content management firms. The cellular industry is trying desperately to stave off the threat of a slowdown in revenue from traditional services and the large capital investment expenditure in new technology infrastructure. The arrival of these content management organizations could provide for temporary breathing space. It has become easier to convince the consumer that the mobile phone is a highly sophisticated lifestyle gadget and not a commodity with only one purpose. Content on the phone is becoming the main differentiator.

It was in the late nineties that cellular operators began providing the facility of surfing the Internet via the mobile phone. But today content takes many forms; it includes ring tones, logos, animation, news, live footage of events, clips of the latest movie or song, games, stock trading, online databases etc. The arrival of Bluetooth technology has further expedited the need for media rich content. The phone has become the fifth major interface for gaming after PCs, consoles, PDAs and the Internet.

Japan was the first place where the concept of media rich content on the cellular phone caught on. Initially it was a fad that only teenagers with cash to spend seemed interested in, but today it is estimated that the Japanese spend more than $300 million a year and $500 million a year on ring tones and mobile games respectively. The calamitous drop in newspaper subscribers in Japan can be attributed to the fact that Japanese of all ages are switching over to their cell phones for news.

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* Contributed by: -
Anish Chandy,
PGP 2003-05,
TAPMI, Manipal,
Published in Bi-annual Journal of TAPMI - 'Amartya'.