Market for MIDs or Smart Mobile Devices?

I have been asking myself lately if there is a market requirement for the Mobile Internet Devices as defined by Intel, but I can find no compelling reason for such a device. The device category is manufactured and does not fit the consumer market with its relatively large form factor and high power consumption being offset by nothing more than the promise of a desktop internet experience. My pockets and hands are not getting any larger to make carrying such a device a realistic prospect. However, true smart mobile devices that access the internet offer a compelling experience for which the consumer will pay.

Forcing the creation of a new category of devices will not work. The way forward is to enhance the consumer experience of existing devices that already provide significant value through a clear primary purpose. Mobile phones are the most obvious category of consumer devices where we are seeing this innovation, with increasingly higher speed modems in new devices offering higher throughput than the broadband connection to my house. Coupled with a trend to larger display sizes and the innovative use of widgets and services this category of devices, which have the primary purpose of making calls, fit in my pocket and have a suitable power profile to last for days and are truly mobile personal devices. The incredible capabilities and diversity of “smartphones” will on their own constrain the development of any MID market.

Yet, the consumer electronics industry is far more diverse. The desire to consume content and access information through the internet is propagating at a fast pace into many of the electronic devices we use on a daily basis. We will see a range of smart mobile devices. With portable music players integrating browsers and the spread of modem technology into portable navigation devices many new, compelling user experiences are being born. Take for example, the TomTom Go940, which on the surface is a PND, but with a built-in modem becomes a mobile computing device with location context and the ability to show the user local fuel prices and provide location-based search functions.

The question we should be asking is not how to replicate the Internet on mobile devices, but how the mobile experience will shape Internet applications of the future.

Laurence Bryant, Mobile Segment Marketing Manager, ARM, focussing on new technology trends for small low powered battery powered devices. Enthralled at the ever increasing capabilities of portable devices Laurence enjoys seeing consumer adoption of compelling applications provided through technology.

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