|
|
|
Swisscom’s launch of Ogo recognized in European Mobile IM Adoption Forecast by Independent Research Firm
Belmont CA; 20 February 2008
An independent report by Forrester Research, released on January 18th, 2008 titled "Mobile IM Adoption in Europe: 2007 To 2013" forecasts that almost 80 million or as many as 24% of European mobile consumers will be using mobile IM by 2013.
“We are excited to include Ogo in our offering ” said Marc Rosenfeld CEO of
LUXGSM “Young people in Luxembourg are extremely enthusiastic about taking their
buddy list with them wherever they go, and since the majority prefer to IM over
any other form of communication, Ogo is the perfect solution for taking their IM
mobile”
The report was conducted by Forrester research, the worlds leading independent information technology research and advisory company. Niek van Veen, Forrester’s principal technology analyst states: ”….To stimulate the uptake and usage of mobile IM, operators need to have enough available handsets with embedded mobile IM clients…”
According to the report, a mobile version of existing (PC) IM communities was recognized as one of the three dominant mobile IM launch strategies in Europe. “Swisscom has launched a dedicated mobile Internet device, optimized for IM usage, called the Ogo; it has a QWERTY keyboard and the IM app on the home screen. Swisscom attracted 50,000 users with a flat-rate contract of €12 per month, and users send and receive an average of 3,800 IM messages per month. Ease of setup and ease-of-use stimulate adoption."
"IXI has been a strong believer of the potential in taking IM mobile and created Ogo especially to offer a mobile IM experience closest to that on a PC" said Amit Haller, CEO of IXI Mobile " Forrester's research, reflects our belief in the direction the market is headed and the importance of combining device, software and pricing in order to achieve the right IM experience."
Van Veen also states that: "Even if mobile operators decide not to launch a mobile IM service or to not fully commit to their existing service, messaging providers in combination with device manufacturers will. In that case, operators will not be able to protect their brand or their SMS revenues. The only thing they will see is a slight uplift in data usage."
Regarding the forecast that 24% of mobile consumers will be using mobile IM services, the report summarizes that "To achieve that number, mobile operators have to get over their fear of brand erosion and SMS revenue cannibalization. Product managers will need to work on device usability, enable SMS interoperability, provide flat-fee IM packages, and market IM services by using Social Computing energy."
For a copy of the full report please go to:
http://forrester.com/Research/Document/0,7211,44380,00.html
Please direct inquiries to:
IXI Mobile:
Ariella Shoham
Marketing Manager
Press@ixi.com
About IXI Mobile
Headquartered in Belmont, CA, IXI Mobile, Inc.(OTCBB: IXMO, IXMOW, IXMOU) offers solutions that bring innovative, data-centric mobile devices and services to the mass market. The company provides a turn-key solution to mobile operators and Internet service providers around the world to launch and support Ogo products. For more information on IXI Mobile, please visit
www.ixi.com.
About Ogo
The Ogo family of devices provides the ultimate mobile messaging experience on optimized, easy-to use handheld devices. In addition to supporting major messaging programs, Ogo provides, email, SMS, web browsing, voice and multimedia services including music, images and video playback. . Ogo was launched by mobile operators and Internet service providers around the world. More information on Ogo is available at:
www.ogo.com.
|
