Guest Column: MID handsets and services

Guest Column: MID handsets and services

 

By Leo Wang

In the latest Interfax guest column, Leo Wang, co-founder of Mobile2venture, shares his opinions about the development of Mobile Internet Device (MID) handsets. He argues that MID handset companies should integrate hardware, software and services, so as to better compete with other players in the market. Translated by Zhang Danwei.

Shanghai. August 14. INTERFX-CHINA - The Mobile Internet Device (MID) handset is a new type of smartphone focused on Internet and data services. The iPhone is a successful example of an MID handset, and its success proves that the era of MID handset is here.

Nokia, the world's largest handset brand, has also released several MID handsets. The company purchased Symbian in June, and Nokia now has a worldwide handset hardware brand, Nokia (hardware), which enjoys the biggest handset market share in the world; a smartphone operation system, Symbian OS (software), which also enjoys the biggest mobile system market share; and a mobile Internet portal, OVI.com (service), which was released last year.

Apple has also released a new Internet service: MobileMe, which automatically puts new e-mail, contacts and calendar events on Macs, PCs, iPhones or iPods. Apple and Nokia's strategy of entering the MID handset market rests on a hardware+software+service strategy. While products such as PC software and hardware are usually separated at first, the combination of mobile software and hardware is necessary because of the basic nature of mobile equipment.

The key point for successful mobile industry players is the advantage of dealing in both hardware and software. It's also worth remembering that the business model for the handset market is now changing from selling hardware to selling software and services.

Besides Nokia, the world famous handset provider, and Apple, the world famous PC provider - which chose the same hardware+software+service strategy and became MID handset and service providers - RIM, a company that provides Blackberry hardware, software and services, is also a positive example. A bad example is Palm. Due to the lack of a mobile Internet service, that brand has retreated from the MID handset market.

Google and Microsoft are also two companies that deserve attention. One is a forerunner of Internet services while the other is a world-famous PC system and software provider. They are both entering the mobile terminal market by using their unique weapons: Windows Mobile and Android (software).

Windows Mobile came from Microsoft's PC system, so its high price and high power consumption became its weak points despite its powerful functions. Moreover, Microsoft only has an operating system, and the hardware for a handset has to be provided by a third party.

However, even third party companies with a strong R & D capability, such as HTC, can hardly add differentiated functions from the lower system level under the Windows Mobile operation system. This weak point in hardware might explain the reason why Microsoft recently purchased a Portuguese company, MobiComp, and intents to release the Zune Phone, Microsoft's self-developed MID handset. However, this purchase might influence the income of handset producers that use Windows Mobile systems in their own handsets.

Linux is another major operating system used in the market. As its programs come from different companies and are hard to integrate though, there are few successful applications on Linux so far. Motorola's failure is an example of how Linux destroyed a company, an incident that has made Google, which also uses the Linux system, very alarmed.

As a PC service developer, Google does not understand the entire process of handset production, and cannot recognize all the major problems. Its Android platform, based on the Linux, is continuously changing its SDK [Software Development Kit: a set of development tools that allows a software engineer to create applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system or similar platform], causing great trouble for handset producers intent on using the Android platform.

In turn, this has delayed the release of Android handsets. Analysts predict that Android handsets are unlikely to be seen on the market in 2008, and the future of the Android handset is not optimistic.

If the market trend is mobile Internet services, MID handsets must first focus on service quality. Service quality basically depends on the operating system, software and SDK. It's important to have a self-developed, multi-task and multi-media capable operating system with an attractive interface and good user experience. The basic hardware, including main boards, chips, keyboards and screens, are also important for a successful handset.

The invention of the iPhone shows that a successful MID handset requires a company with good integration capabilities, such as Apple. MTK, a chip and solutions provider, is this kind of company. It is good at integration and provides both chips (hardware) and solutions (software), and as a result, MTK dominates the low-end handset chip market.

Besides Apple, Nokia and RIM, do any other companies have the ability to enter the mobile Internet market? Let's see what we have in the industry now:

・ Operators like China Mobile, Vodafone and AT&T, who provide software and services;

・ Family electric appliance companies like Haier, Konka and Amoi, which also produce handset hardware;

・ Telecom equipment manufacturers like Huawei, ZTE and Cisco, which also produce handset hardware;

・ Chip and solution providers like MTK, Spreadtrum, NXP and TI, which produce hardware and basic software;

・ Handset integration solution providers like Longcheer, Simcom and Dewav, which produce hardware and application software;

・ Mobile application platform developers like Vogins, which produce software and services;

・ Mobile solution integration providers with their own operating systems and Web service portals, like Hyctron; and

・ Leading Web portal and IM service providers like Tencent.

I prefer the Hyctron+Vogins model, if taking R & D ability and strategy into consideration.

Hyos, Hyctron's self-developed smartphone operating system, has the advantage of low power consumption, multi-media and multi-tasking. As opposed to independent design houses (IDH) like Longcheer, Simcom and Dewav, although Hyctron uses chips from TI and MTK, it has an independent operating system for handset R & D and integration, and has total control over its handset hardware.

Hyctron has also opened a mobile Internet portal. Together with Vogins' application software, Hyctron can provide very convenient SDK and applications for third parties (handset makers), and share revenue with its partners by using its platform. In this way, Hyctron is able to enjoy the second highest position in the mobile service industry, next only to telecom operators.

I think Hyctron is so far the only company that has shown the ability to create a "Chinese iPhone". However, its sales, marketing and brand influence still need to be expanded. The Internet era is an era full of miracles. As long as the company follows the right direction, it is sure to be successful.

The above is an exclusive English translation of a posting on Leo Wang's Chinese-language blog, betashow.blogbus.com. It is a personal opinion piece by the author, and its publication in no way implies that Interfax shares the views expressed.

About the author: Leo Wang is the co-founder of Mobile2venture, a mobile Internet company incubator. He graduated from Xi'an Institute of Post & Telecommunications in 2001, and has worked for Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Shanghai Lantop Information Technologies Co. Ltd., Chipnuts Technology Inc. and Wealink.com. Leo Wang is now a consultant for several new companies, such as Vogins Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Shangmail.com and City600.com.

Five things that unified telecom operators should do

Five things that unified telecom operators should do

By Leo Wang

 

In the latest Interfax guest column, Leo Wang, co-founder of Mobile2venture, shares his opinions about the five things that unified telecom operators should do. He argues that operators should work on providing high-quality networks, removing differentiation among handset models and providing more convenient customer service to handset users. Translated by Zhang Danwei.

 

Operators play a very important role in the mobile communications and service industry. Sometimes operators even act as supervisors. In order to ensure a bright future for China's mobile Internet device (MID) and 3G industry, I think all the unified operators in China should do five things:

1. Make high-quality and low-radiation communication networks available everywhere (for voice services)

 

This point is easy to understand. Although we need communication services anytime, anywhere, and China Mobile and China Unicom's service coverage is very big, it is still necessary to maintain a "green" telecom industry. That's why CDMA became a 3G technology, since CDMA is much more environmentally friendly than GSM.

 

2. Make stable fixed and wireless broadband networks available everywhere (for data services)

 

This sounds easy, but due to competition between different standards, wireless broadband is still not popular. Even in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, Wi-Fi coverage can only be seen in some cafes. WiMax, the technology Intel prefers, is too risky for operators to use because governments have not demonstrated clear attitudes about it. Even in the U.S., a relatively open telecom market, the CEO of SpringNextel had to resign, in part because he wrongly chose WiMax and caused losses for the company. Broadband on the 3G network also did not benefit us before the Olympic Games. Although the 3G license release in China is getting closer, and TD-SCDMA has been "supported" by China Mobile - the most powerful operator in China - its commercial prospects still are not too good. During commercial trials, TD-SCDMA's performance was not good enough. Fortunately, the Chinese government regards 3G as a political task, and has demanded that China Mobile develop 100 million TD-SCDMA users in three years. The future of TD-SCDMA might therefore be a little better.

We hope that, in the near future, some operators will let people experience broadband services everywhere, no matter if it is Wi-Fi/WiMax/MESH, WCDMA/HSDPA or CDMA2000/EV-DO. Broadband services are very important for the prosperity of the entire telecom industry.

3. Remove differentiation among terminals to provide a better user experience

Differentiation among communication terminals limits the development of the whole industry to some extent. The co-existence of handset platforms has caused inconvenience.

We have high-end OSs from Windows Mobile, Symbian S60, Symbian S90, UIQ, Linux, Palm, Blackberry and iPhone for smartphones. We also have lower-end handset platforms from MTK, Spreadtrum, NXP, Infineon, TI and Qualcomm for low-end phones. All the platforms provide totally different user experiences, and the platforms are not compatible with each other. In order to let companies develop applications for low-end handsets, there is middleware like Kjava and VRE.

These factors have caused problems for people when downloading third party software applications, including where to download, how to download, which version to choose, how to install, how to operate (since different platforms result in different operation methods) and how to uninstall?

Operators should have a preferred OS or middleware. It would be much easier for handset users to find, download, install, use and uninstall third party applications in the operators' own application "portals". In this way, operators can develop a unified experience among their subscribers. There will be only three operators in the future, compared with so many different OSs and middleware. My suggestion will simplify the whole industry a lot. Besides, operators have total control when they buy handsets from handset companies, and they can demand that companies install their preferred software on the handsets.

4. Create a good environment for third party application software to be developed

The co-existence of different platforms has also caused trouble for third parties that develop application software. The companies must invest a huge amount of money and energy to develop different application software for thousands of different terminal models. That's probably why some small software developers have no choice but to develop software based on the most popular OS, Symbian S60.

But with operators' own preferred OS or intermediate software, and matching applications from content providers (CPs) and application processors (APs), developers can develop only once, and operators can help the software marketing and publishing market.

The preferred OS or middleware can work just like China Mobile's Baibaoxiang 2.0. As we all know, Baibaoxiang 1.0, China Mobile's existing application portal, can provide application software downloads, but users have to close the portal when installing the software. Application portals like Baibaoxiang 2.0 means users can install software with the portal open. Baibaoxiang is based on Java, but application platforms like VRE are based on C language. Software based on C language is more efficient than Kjava. It's more convenient and more economic.

5. Provide unified bills, convenient billing channels and 24-hour customer service

 

The billing system is another advantage held by operators. In the future, subscribers will of course wish to combine their fixed-line phone fees, mobile phone fees, IPTV fees and many other fees into one bill. In addition, 24-hour customer services are also important. Although most services are provided by CPs and APs, people can't remember all their service line numbers. People prefer to call the operators, so if operators can take the responsibilities of APs and CPs and combine all the service numbers into one service number, that will be good for the whole industry, as long as all the APs and CPs obtain authorization from operators.

Another key point is that the lack of billing systems for CPs and APs is the reason why Chinese Internet users have developed the bad habit of expecting free services, which limits the further development of the Internet industry in China. In the mobile Internet era, operators should take on the responsibility of collecting fees for CPs and APs.

 

I think that besides network construction and the provision of services, operators should act more like leaders in the industry, just as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Nokia do in their fields. They should create a better environment and encourage the innovation of application software developers. If a platform like Google Android is run by telecom operators, it is much more likely for it to succeed.

I hope that operators in China can make use of their capital, policy and technology know-how to lead the mobile Internet business to prosperity.

 

The above is an exclusive English translation of a posting on Leo Wang's Chinese-language blog, betashow.blogbus.com. It is a personal opinion piece by the author, and its publication in no way implies that Interfax shares the views expressed. 

 

About the author: Leo Wang is the co-founder of Mobile2venture. He graduated from Xi'an Institute of Post & Telecommunications in 2001, and has worked for Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Shanghai Lantop Information Technologies Co. Ltd., Chipnuts Technology Inc. and Wealink.com. Leo Wang is now a consultant for several new companies, such as Vogins Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Shangmail.com and City600.com.