Management Information Systems, 15TH ED.

MANAGING THE DIGITAL FIRM

Kenneth C. Laudon ● Jane P. Laudon

Chapter 1: Information Systems in Global Business Today

Learning Track 3: The Mobile Digital Platform

In a few years, the primary means of accessing the Internet both in the U.S. and worldwide will
be through mobile devices like tablet and smartphone computers, and not traditional desktop or
laptop PCs. This means that the primary platform for e-commerce products and services will also
change to a mobile platform (Table 1-1).

FIGURE 1.1 U.S. Internet and Mobile Internet Users, 2011-2017 (millions)

262
2017 210.2
178

258
2016 196.7
168.1

254
2015 181
157.1

248
2014 162.9
143.2
Internet Users
243
2013 143.2
123.1
Mobile Phone
Internet Users
237
2012 124.7 Tablets
93.9

230
2011 98.6
33.5

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Mobile Internet—Smartphones and tablets are the fastest growing form of Internet access. Mobile
Internet users will be 45% of all Internet users in 2013, and grow to 64% by 2016.
Source: eMarketer, 2013

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You can see this sea change in technology platform today whenever you travel and watch busi-
ness people peck away at their Blackberries in airports and train stations; kids in school text away
madly to their friends on cell phones, many using Twitter; high school and college kids are often
buried in games, movies, TV shows, emails, and text on their smartphones; and people on trains
reading the newspaper, magazines, and books on their tablets. Just in case you haven’t noticed,
mom and dad are no longer at home anymore. Instead they’re in a car taking the kids to the next
“engagement.” And both are working long hours and bring work home with them or come home
late. They’ve learned to shop and work on the way, ordering everything from pizzas to entre dishes.
Fashion magazines, books publishers, and online newspapers have received a lift as tablet comput-
ers become a very popular platform for viewing and purchasing clothing and other retail goods.

The changing platform is a challenge for even the dominant Internet players. Google finds its
PC-based ad business must somehow shift to the mobile platform and make up for slowing growth
in its traditional search engine-based marketing engine. Apple struggles against the growing popu-
larity of cheaper Samsung Android phones, and tries to develop a mobile advertising platform
(iAd) to rival the leader in mobile ads (Google). Microsoft and Intel both struggle to develop mobile
hardware and software for the consumer and business market. HP and Dell experience declin-
ing PC revenues, and fail to develop mobile alternatives to for their customers. Amazon strug-
gles to encourage customers to purchase retail products using their phones, while experiencing
some success with tablet-based retail, and dominating ebook sales both with its Kindle reader, and
Kindle apps on mobile devices.

Figure 1.2 illustrates how fast mobile devices have grown as a percentage of the Internet popu-
lation. In 2013, 75% of the U.S. adult population uses the Internet, but 45% use phones, and 38%
tablets. By 2017, Internet penetration slowly grows to 80%, but phone and tablet users grow to 64%
and 54%, respectively.

FIGURE 1.2 Internet, Mobile, and Tablet Users Penetration (% of Internet Users)

2017

2016
Internet % Population
2015

2014 Tablets

2013
Mobile Phone
2012

2011

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00%

While PCs are expected to remain the largest % of Internet users by 2017, table and phone Internet
access is expected to grow much faster and nearly equal the penetration of PCs.
Source: eMarketer, 2013
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Mobile Is Global
The rapid growth of the mobile Internet platform is a global phenomenon, and not just a U.S.
phenomenon. Figure 1.3 illustrates the changing global Internet platform.

FIGURE 1-3 Global PC, Smartphone and Tablet Shipments, 2010–2016

2016

2015

2014

2013 Tablets

2012 PCs

2011
Smartphones
2010

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Source: IDC, 2012

In 2013, 800 million smartphones were shipped worldwide, while only 400 million PCs were
shipped. By 2016, the gap will increase to 1.1 million phone shipments and only 520 million PC
shipments. Tablets trail both PCs and phone shipments by a significant amount, but are growing
much more rapidly than PCs. The relative surge in smartphones is understandable: they are much
less expensive than either PCs or tablets, and in developing countries with limited land-line
Internet facilities, cell phones are much more easily and inexpensively deployed.

It Isn’t Just the Technology: Changes in Consumer and

Corporate Behavior
While the emerging mobile digital platform is certainly a hardware event, it also involves changes
in software, as well as changes in our society and culture which sometimes drive the technology in
certain directions, and in other cases are driven by the technology to enable and support new kinds
of behavior. Soccer moms and dads long preceded the advent of iPhones, but smartphones and
tablets enable that style of parenting on the move and sometimes make it more enjoyable. How else
would it be possible to coordinate play dates, car pools and dinner on the fly?

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In 2013 the U.S. labor force has about 155 million workers. Cellular industry experts believe about
60% of the US labor force uses mobile devices as a part of their jobs. Half of the federal labor force
uses mobile devices at work. The new mobile workforce is composed of full and part-time knowl-
edge workers who can work at home, at a coffee shop, airport or on a train; extended day workers
who don’t stop working when they leave the office; truly mobile workers who live out of briefcases,
classic road warriors; and event driven mobile workers who respond to emergency situations where
the traditional infrastructure is disabled or non-existent.

What is driving the growth of consumer and business purchases of smartphones? The mobile plat-
form enables changes in work and consuming. Work used to be a place, but today it’s a set of activi-
ties performed anywhere that you get paid for. Consuming used to take place in a marketplace or
department store, then it moved to the PC at work and home, and today it’s moving to a mobile
device. Consuming today is a set of activities performed anywhere, every where you spend money
on goods and services. Dealing with client requests for delivery dates and price quotes used to be
an “I’ll get back to you in a couple of hours” affair. This changed with mobile computing to “I have
the dates and prices in my hand.” The speed of both consumer and business information is greatly
accelerated with the mobile platform. The quality of managerial and business decision making is
improved by more accurate and up-to-date information. These social-technological phenomenon
have significant implications for e-commerce now and in the near term future five years.

The Mobile Platform: Technology

Smartphones are a disruptive technology which radically alters the personal computing and
e-commerce landscape. Smartphones involve a major shift in computer processors, and software
that is disrupting the forty year dual monopolies established by Intel Corporation and Microsoft,
whose chips, operating systems and software applications have dominated the PC market since
1982. Virtually no cell phones use Intel chips, which power 90% of the worlds PCs; Only 12% of
Smart phones use Microsoft’s operating systems and that’s mostly in Asia (Windows mobile).
Instead smart phone manufacturers either purchase operating systems like Symbian, the world
leader, or build their own like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android OS, typically based on Linux
and JAVA platforms. 90% of the billion cell phones shipped each year use some version of ARM
(Advanced RISC Machine) chips, licensed by ARM Inc. and manufactured by many firms. For
instance, Apple’s latest iPhone 5 uses an Apple-designed A6 ARM chip with a dual core 1.3 giga-
hertz processor that uses only .45 milliwatts of power (compared to a typical laptop dual core
mobile Intel processor that uses 25 watts—about 500 times more power consumption). Apple has
not officially released information on the chip or its manufacturer, but it is believed the chip is
manufactured by Samsung. Smartphones and tablets do not need fans because they use so little
power. Mobile devices do not use power hungry hard drives, but instead use flash memory chips
with storage up to 64 megabytes. While the latest Energy Star 4 lap top disk drives consume 500

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milliwatts at idle, and 1 watt writing and reading, flash memory chips consume about 50 milliwatts
writing and reading data (twenty times less power).

Powerful, energy efficient client devices are only one-half of the emerging digital platform. Without
second and third generation cellular networks, and Wi-Fi wireless local networks, mobile plat-
forms enabling computing anywhere and anytime would be impossible. By 2013 there will be 143
million cell phone subscribers in the United States, and 1.7 billion cell subscribers worldwide. Most
subscribers are using broadband 3G and 4G networks that enable users to view customized Web
pages with a traditional browser, and over a million smartphone apps that do not require a browser.
While the US lags behind Asia and Europe in 4G networks, carriers have finally established their
basic 4G footprints. Speeds on Verizon’s 4G LTE network realistically are about 8.5 Mps down and
6 Mps, enough to watch TV shows and movies without a hitch. As with all cellular service, speed
and reliability depend on a variety of conditions, such as how far you are from a cell tower, how
many other users are connected in your vicinity and how much data they’re moving.

Mobile Commerce
Up until the introduction of the Apple iPhone smartphone in 2007, and the development of iTunes
store where millions of iPod and iPhone users could download songs, mobile e-commerce in
the United States was more of a dream than a reality. In Asia and northern Europe (particularly
Finland and Sweden) mobile payment systems were developed for cell phones in 2000, but there
was very little shopping or advertising with traditional cell phones and few applications. Mobile
e-commerce failed to develop in part because there was no mobile client hardware with sufficient
capacity to communicate, work or shop, and in part because existing cell phone networks lacked
the capacity to deal with millions of simultaneous users surfing the Web. That’s all changed.

Figure 1.4 illustrates the rapid growth of m-commerce following the introduction of mobile
devices. In 2011, m-commerce was only 7% of all e-commerce. By 2013 it had grown to 15%, and in
2016 is estimated to be 23%-- nearly a quarter of all e-commerce.

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FIGURE 1.4 M-commerce and E-commerce, 2011-2016

450
400 385
338
350
296
300
259
250 226 Mobile Commerce
$ Billions 195
200
150 E-commerce

100 86.9
68.3
52.1
38.4
50 13.6 24.6
0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Source: eMarketer, 2013

It is important to understand what is meant by “m-commerce” and “e-commerce” sales.

E-commerce and m-commerce sales include the buying of physical goods and services using
a browser or app on a mobile phone, tablet, e-reader, or other handheld device. Other kinds of
devices include game boxes and systems. M-commerce includes the sales of mobile apps, as well as
sales that take place within an app. Travel and event ticket sales, and payments such as Square, are
not included in m-commerce. Consumers who just shop (browse) from mobile devices are consid-
ered “shoppers” and are not included even though online browsing has a very large influence on off-
line purchases.

Mobile commerce is growing so rapidly in part because it gives consumers the ability to access
information now, buy it now, and pay for it now. Because mobile phones are usually always on, and
usually attached to the consumer, they provide to access instant coupons, deals, and flash sales, all
of which are powerful motivators to purchase something. Product information, deals and sales, and
the power to purchase now are all available with a tap of a fingertip. The forecast for m-commerce
suggests double-digit increases inthe number of mobile shoppers and buyers, and overall sales
through 2016. By comparison, traditional e-commerce conducted over PCs is expected to increase
at 9-10% in the period.

Online retailers are finding that consumers might browse on their cell phones, but it’s difficult for
them to purchase from phones because of the small screen, and difficulties of keying in credit card
information. While not as portable as phones, the larger high resolution screens of tablets are ideal
for mobile browsing, and large enough to complete a credit card transaction with ease. For this

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reason, tablets will play a significant role in the growth m-commerce as their adoption rates are
higher than for smart phones.

Figure 1.5 illustrates the comparative influence of smartphones and tablets in the growth of
m-commerce.

FIGURE 1.5 M-commerce Sales by Device

70
61
60

50 46
Tablets
40 34
$ Billions
30 Cell Phones
24 24
20
20 17
14 13 Other
10
10 8
5
1 1 1 1 1 1
0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Retail purchases made through tablets are expected to comprise 70% of m-commerce sales in
2016, up from 62% in 2013. Smartphone sales are expected to grow at double-digit rates and
comprise 35% of m-commerce sales in 2013, falling to 28% in 2016. Sales made through other
mobile devices, such as e-readers or handheld gaming systems, will represent less than 3% of total
m-commerce sales during the period.

M-Commerce: Where’s the Money?

There are five major m-commerce revenue streams: software apps, sales of physical goods and
services (banking for instance), entertainment (video), music, and books (Figure 1.7)

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FIGURE 1.7 Sources of M-commerce Revenues

60

Apps
50

Goods
40

Entertainment
30

Music
20

E-books
10

0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Sources: eMarketer, 2013; author estimates

There are several surprises in Figure 1.7. The sales of apps on both Apple and Android devices is
larger than sales of goods in 2013, and is expected to grow faster than all other mobile revenues
through 2016. By 2016, sales of apps and sales of services within apps is almost twice as large as
the sale of goods. Second, physical goods and services sales, while growing, do not grow as fast as
expected. Third, e-book sales are surprisingly strong when compared entertainment and music.
Here are some explanations.
The app sales reflects in part the growth in apps—Apple and Google each claim to have over 1
billion apps in their stores. There are an estimated 50 billion app downloads each year from both
services. While most of these apps are free, especially game apps, maps, and apps for online retail
stores like Amazon and Macy’s, many of the most useful apps sell from a few dollars to several
thousand dollars. The top ten most expensive apps range in price from $179 (Nursing Constellation
Plus, a reference tool for emergency room physicians) to $999 (BarMax California Edition, a
students taking the California Bar exam). The most expensive iPad apps are a little more expensive,
ranging in price from $299 for TouchChat HD (a tool for communicating with the impaired) to
$999 for Intuition Control (a scrap management system). In comparison, single music tracks sell for
.99 cents, and despite the number of musical downloads, the revenue is far less than app revenue.

The relatively slow growth of mobile physical goods and services revenue may result from the fact
that consumers do not use their smartphones for purchasing goods, at least not directly. Surveys
of smartphone users show people use their phones primarily for “me time” (relaxation, entertain-
ment), socializing, browsing/shopping, managing finances and health, planning, discovery of news
and information, and self-expression. Direct purchasing is a very small part of the smartphone user

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mobile time. There’s also the “fat finger” problem: purchasing on a 3.5” square screen is difficult,
mistakes are common, and clicking on tiny mobile ads is just no fun and often is just a mistake as
the user is trying to accomplish something else. While direct phone sales are very small, browsing
and shopping is very common, and may very well lead to an Amazon or Macy’s app where purchas-
es are easier. Tablets do not seem to suffer as much from the fat finger effect. Tablet screen size
(9.7” for the large screens) is less than half the size of 15” laptop screens, but their higher resolu-
tion makes up for this to some extent. For this reason, tablet retail sales will grow much faster than
smartphone retail sales of goods.

Figure 1.8 illustrates how consumers actually use their smartphones as indicated by the kinds of
apps they are downloading.

FIGURE 1.8 The Apps Consumers Use

Source: Nielsen, 2011

Purchasing goods and services, as opposed to informing and socializing activties, is not high on
the list of apps that are downloaded. Only 26% of smartphone users download shopping/retail
apps, and actual purchasing is not that common (as opposed to shopping).

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A final surprise in Figure 1.7 concerns the strength of mobile eBook sales which are expected to
grow faster than entertainment revenues (TV and video). In part this is due to the extraordinary
success of the Amazon Kindle devices which are both low in cost, and adequate for browsing the
Web (Kindle Fire). Small smartphone screens are adequate for books, and large tablet screens are
close to ideal book readers. Books are just a better fit with the mobile platform than purchasing
goods, or watching movies. The small smartphone screen is a hindrance to experiencing feature
length movies. Tablets are much more suited to the task. But most consumers are watching movies
and TV series using their full size TV screens and streaming the entertainment from Web servic-
es like Netflix. In a pinch, consumers will watch a TV series using their smartphones, but it is not a
preferred platform. How about a 50” high definition screen in the living room?

The Mobile Platform Transforms Online Advertising

So far we’ve discussed how the mobile platform is changing e-commerce in terms of sales of goods
and services. The mobile platform is also having a powerful impact on the marketing and advertis-
ing industry. Marketers have to go where consumers go, and increasingly, this means going mobile.
E-commerce marketers, retailers, and service vendors are discovering that smartphones repre-
sent a new channel for selling and paying for goods and services, the so-called “fourth screen”
(Hollywood movies, television, and personal computers being the first three screens).

Smartphone advertising in the form of banner ads is being developed in a number of ways, includ-
ing mobile Internet use, email like Google’s Gmail which contains ads, instant messaging, ring-
tones, games, and music downloads. A new avenue for distinctly app banner advertising is accom-
plished through proprietary applications which users download. Applications like the VirtualZippo
lighter, Audi’s A4 challenge, Kraft fFoods’ iFood Assistant, and Levi’s Dockers Shakeable apps are
the vehicle for presenting the brand to users. Charmin (the toilet paper brand) decided not to build
an application showing its products at work, but has instead sponsored the popular SitOrSquat
application, a user generated public restroom locator Web site. Users create the sites content by
rating and commenting on restrooms. Over 50,000 restrooms worldwide have been rated, and the
application has been downloaded 80,000 times.

US mobile advertising spending is about $7 billion in 2013 (compared to $46 billion for all online
advertising), and is expected to grow at 25% to 40% a year to 2016, reaching a total spend of $27
billion in 2017. In 2013 mobile advertising is only 16% of all online advertising. Mobile advertising
is growing about four times faster than all online ad spending). By 2016, mobile advertising will be
an estimated 40% of all online advertising.

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FIGURE 1-5 U.S. Mobile Ad Spending 2011-2017 (millions)

$70.0 $66.3
$62.0
$60.0 $57.5
$52.8
$50.0 $46.5
Online Ad
$39.5 Spending
$40.0
$Billions $32.0
$30.0 $27.1
Mobile Ad
$21.5
Spending
$20.0 $16.2
$11.3
$10.0 $7.3
$4.1
$2.0
$-
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Mobile Internet advertising is the fastest growing online ad channel.

Source: eMarketer, 2012

Mobile ads come in all the same formats as traditional online Web ads. Examples include banner
ads displayed when using applications (not interfering with phone use, SMS or email) and expo-
sure to ads while using smart phones for viewing the Web. There are also product specific appli-
cations which are sponsored by firms directly and their marketing firms. But most mobile ads are
simply smaller versions of traditional Web ads. To date, display ads on mobile devices, particularly
smartphones, have not been very successful. In fact, they are “worth” only one-quarter to one-half
of what traditional display ads are worth (which is not much to begin with). Advertisers know that
consumers find mobile phone ads are annoying and inconvenient in part because they interfere
with use of the phone to read other information and messages on the tiny screen. With the small
screen, mobile ads have no right side and the ads have to be put center screen. So your Facebook
mobile news feed will be broken up with ads, some so small you can’t understand what they are
selling.

The low value and utility of mobile ads poses a threat to Google, Facebook, and Amazon, and
most other online marketing and advertising firms. As users turn away from their traditional large
screen Web screens, and switch to mobile devices, ad revenues decline because the ads just don’t
work as well driving customers to shop and purchase products. Once again, the mobile platform
is transforming and disrupting to some extent the comfortable market positions that many firms
have found in the “big screen” Web experience.

The future of mobile advertising arguably lies in ads displayed within apps. Mobile users spend
about 80% of their time using apps and only 20% of their time using their general purpose mobile

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browsers. The biggest revenue generating apps for advertising will be games and entertainment
(art 42% of user time, it’s the largest time segment for mobile users), social networks (mostly
Facebook, 32% of mobile user time), utilities (maps, text, photo sites), discovery and shopping
(Yelp, TripAdvisor, Instagram), and brands (like Amazon, Nike, Coke, and scores of others). In-app
advertising may well be more acceptable to users, and more lucrative for app makers, because the
user has already shown an interest in the app content, and might be more accepting of app-related
ads. For instance, when users download the Nike app to play a game, or browse for Nike shoes, an
advertisement for a new Nike shoe might be perceived as acceptable, even helpful. Users may come
to expect ads inside apps, whereas they are annoyed when ads pop up on their mobile browser
screens and interfere with their activities.

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Copyright © 2017 Kenneth Laudon and Jane Laudon.
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