How many times have you connected to the Web today? How many times did you do so on a computer (desktop or laptop) and how many times by using a smartphone? Chances are that unless your job is completely desk-bound, you will have used the phone more times than a ‘proper’ computer.
Whatever your personal preference, evidence is starting to emerge that suggests smartphones are becoming much more significant as access devices. A recent report by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, found that for the first time people across the Irish Sea were using phones more than laptops to connect to the Web.
The report found that whereas two years ago laptops were the main platform to access the Web for 40% of people in the UK compared to 22% that used smartphones, the balance has shifted with 33% now favouring phones compared to 30% using laptops.
Ofcom states that smartphones “have become the hub of our daily lives and are now in the pockets of two-thirds (66%) of UK adults, up from 39% in 2012… We now spend almost twice as long online with our smartphones than on laptops and personal computers.”
This shift could have interesting, potentially profound, consequences for channel partners. Selling computing devices such as PCs and laptops is second nature to many channel businesses. Smartphones are different. For a start, many of those currently in use may not even be sold by resellers or bought by their customers. Instead, employees could be using their own devices.
Secondly, it’s taking time for people to appreciate that most smartphones are, to all intents and purposes, not just phones, they’re mini-computers. As such, their capabilities over and above making phone calls are far more attuned to the computing world than the telephony market.
Resellers should be best placed to understand that smartphones (and tablets for that matter) are an extension of the existing IT ecosystem. This should give them a better perspective on how those devices can be accommodated within that ecosystem.
The question is: are they aware of the opportunity opening up before them with the growth and proliferation of mobile devices? Or are they still too fixated on the ‘computer’ landscape to see it? What are channel partners doing to ensure they can make the most of the opportunity while helping customers to broaden their IT landscape to encompass the growth in mobile devices and access?
I’d be interested in hearing from anyone out there, whether they’re reading this on a laptop, PC, tablet or smartphone, who has a view on how they intend to interweave the mobile device phenomenon into the fabric of their clients’ IT infrastructure – and continue to make a living in the process.
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