Perhaps we're finally seeing some strides made toward the arduous task of solving the mystery of mobile commerce. When all is said and done, m-commerce may not be commerce at all, but rather another conduit for marketing and CRM that leaves the transactions to other channels. Anyone trying to figure out the m-commerce market, or the wireless market in general, in recent years has had to deal with divergent statistics.
Consumer research says millions.
Supply-side numbers say billions. The opening remarks of the symposium from Patrick McVeigh, CEO of OmniSky , served as a reminder that, especially in the United States, wireless still has a long way to go. Wireless networks are behind in their rollouts, and the speeds the networks are generating aren't what has been promised. The pattern of overpromising and underdelivering has disappointed some early users who have tried wireless technology and expect it be more like their PC-based Internet access. It's not that wireless Internet users aren't a good market for making online purchases.