MapInfo is a software technology leader. We provide location-based solutions and
services, and we integrate software and data primarily to help businesses better
understand their customers and their markets. This, we believe, gives them
tremendous competitive advantage.
Location is the cornerstone, Location
is where our intelligence is derived. So, MapInfo customers, for example, can
better understand their customers and, based on that intelligence, find the most
likely next customer. They're able to track their assets, sales counts in the
wireless industry, stores in retail facilities, ATM's in the finance industry or
markets in the utilities. They're also able to track those assets of their
competitors; understand the optimal network of those assets; and compare the way
they market to those customers with the way their competition markets to
customers.
To do this, we provide what we believe to be, as far as the
industry is concerned, a fairly unique combination of software and data. What
this allows our customers to do is to map their customers, via a geographic
backdrop, to see customer patterns and profile their customers based on
geo-demographic information derived from location. They're able then to compare
one region to another and act upon what this technology reveals.
We
really believe this to be mission critical for our key markets -
telecommunications, retail, financial services, the public sector and utilities.
We also enable our customers to deploy applications that work via the Internet,
or intranet, whether its wireless, hand-held applications or on the desktop.
Technically, we are into mapping, including mobile mapping, but what we
deliver to the market is location-based services and solutions.
Today,
the market that represents the highest potential for our business is the
wireless market. We are presently witnessing the collision of the world's two
fastest growing sectors - mobile technology and the Internet - creating an
opportunity that no organisation can afford to ignore. The revolution is called
the Mobile Internet, and the impact it will have on all business in the new,
world economy will be immense.
Over the next two years, people around
the world will be using mobile communications as part of their daily lives. It
has already become a way of life for users in Japan and Europe - for
communicating with others; for accessing the Internet, and intranets; and for
leisure and education. By 2005 the same pattern will have emerged in the US. In
all three regions, (Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas) there will be more
wireless connections to the Internet than fixed. Forecasters estimate that by
2005, there will be over 1 billion mobile users globally and 750 million data
users, easily outnumbering the predicted 670 million wired Internet users.
The USA has suffered from multiple standards but the adoption of a
single, third generation (3G) standard will create the platform for a true
nationwide Mobile Internet service. Mobile penetration is currently 30%,
relatively low compared with other regions. However, it is predicted that in the
next two years, 80% of mobile phones will have mobile data capabilities. The
rollout of Nextel's iDEN-based high-speed mobile network may finally cause
analogue cellular operators to realise that the Mobile Internet age has arrived.
The 'mobile data wave', although a global trend, has surged ahead in
Europe. European markets are currently one to two years ahead of most of the
world, with only Japan offering more advanced services. Currently, 117 million
Europeans have mobile phones, most of them digital, and three countries
(Finland, Spain & UK) have already awarded 3G licences. At the moment,
Finland has a mobile penetration of 70%, with users shopping via wireless
terminals. And in several countries, including Finland, Austria and Italy,
mobile customers outnumber fixed line subscribers.
The world is moving
towards a mobile, on-line economy. The explosion of the Internet, intranets and
other information services in the fixed world is driving the demand for data
services. The mobile phone is moving away from solely a telephony device, and
towards a role as a unique 'Personal Identifier & Assistant'. It is only a
matter of time before everyone and everything becomes 'connected'.
The
Mobile Internet offers a range of application possibilities for various groups
of users.
Lifestyle Applications can be broken down into three
separate customer segments;
- the 'lost' traveller requires local information and directions for services
such as hotels, restaurants or entertainment
- the 'time-poor' leads a busy life conducting maintenance transactions
(shopping, bill payment, ticketing & administration) when mobile
- the 'socialites' are demanding of data services for interactive media and
messaging
Segment Applications allow a quicker and more
efficient method of update between mobile workers (technicians, sales people,
maintenance workers, couriers) and their base.
Mobile Professional
Applications allow professionals to combine the functionality of their
desktop with the advantages of timeliness, location, flexibility and mobility.
3G will create a new generation of service professional, unchained from the
desktop with LAN-like functionality while on the move.
Already service
providers are scrambling around the world to provide location-based services,
amongst other services, to the mobile user. Location is a key piece, because the
mobile device moves with the user. So a service is only relevant if it's within
your location, and that's effectively where mobile mapping comes to the fore.
The enormous technological developments we are experiencing in the
communications field are being driven by business's recognition that a
competitive advantage can be gained by servicing the customer better. Mass
marketing is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Business is now beginning to
get access to technology that permits it to market with increasing accuracy to
the needs of the individual in a very personal way.
The opportunity has
always existed to market to the individual, but the cost of doing so made it a
totally impractical concept for most businesses. Technology has changed that,
and businesses can now seriously contemplate adopting far more accurate
marketing techniques in a very cost-effective manner.
India may not be
the most advanced, or the most wealthy, country in the world, but the market
need can be no different to that in any other country. And with free Internet
access for all predicted to be not far away because of the anticipated growth in
Internet advertising revenue, cost to the end-user will not be an inhibitor to
market growth. On the contrary, the technological developments in wireless
communication and the business opportunities that flow from it, could become a
driving force for the Indian economy in the coming years.