The iPhone, which launched in Australia, Hong Kong and Japan on 11 July, offers users capabilities which differentiate it from its original model, namely its 3G technology, which allows users to directly link to Google’s homepage via a wireless connection.
Models offered by other makers automatically link users to companies’ mobile WAP portals, which users cite as an inconvenience.
With the iPhone making mobile internet so easily accessible, marketers worldwide are assessing their own potential to use the medium to its capacity. Agencies are already creating campaigns using rich media and video-based branding centralised around the iPhone, and users should expect to see more.
However, while the iPhone offers marketers a unique platform to advertise via mobile internet, Dannie Francis, CEO of The Cell City in Singapore, warns regional marketers to be wary of creating iPhone-exclusive campaigns because the handset’s direct power is limited as only a small percentage of Asia-Pacific’s population will have access to it.
“I don’t think its going to have any great impact because the percentage of users who have an iPhone isn’t going to be that great,” he said. “If it gains 10 to 12 per cent of the market share that would be very surprising.”
Apple has also opened its AppStore, which allows subscribers to find and download applications directly from their iPhone. While third-party marketers may be keen to create applications for distribution, much as Facebook widgets have been created, Francis added that it is uncertain whether future handsets will be able to support applications from the Appstore, again limiting advertisers’ reach.
The iPhone will also find resistance in the region as many areas are not equipped to support WiFi connections, and thus the phone’s 3G. Additionally, users pay a relatively high cost to use mobile internet, and the capability may be limited to business executives who can bear the expense. But these problems will minimise when competitors such as LG, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson create their own iPhone-look-alikes, as occurr-ed following the original iPhone’s launch in June 2007.
“Brands in the future will place more importance on the number of handsets that can deal with rich media,” said regional vice-president of The Hyperfactory Tanbir Rahman, adding that the iPhone will undoubtedly pave the way for other marketing avenues, such as mobile search.
“Marketers will put more emphasis in adapting search for mobile, even on Google.”
Apple sold one million iPhones in 29 countries during its opening weekend.
iPhone sets a benchmark
ASIA-PACIFIC - While Apple's new iPhone has been heralded as the device to popularise mobile internet and reinvent mobile marketing with its 3G technology, Apple's true power may lie in its ability to influence future handset models, both in design and the applications it provides through its App Store.
