Even as some are predicting the impending demise of WAP, others are betting their futures on it.
One such player is Obigo, a longtime participant in wireless data that is hoping a new name and face will energize its sales.
Obigo was founded as AU-System, and in 1995 it worked with L.M. Ericsson to develop protocols for transmitting data over mobile phones. In 1997, Ericsson decided to joined with Nokia Corp. and a startup called Unwired Planet (which later became Openwave Systems Inc.) to promote wireless data. The companies created the WAP Forum (which is now a part of the Open Mobile Alliance) and a year later, in 1998, they released the first WAP specifications.
At the time-when the Internet bubble was still attracting billions of dollars and wireless could do no wrong-WAP was considered the harbinger of a wireless Internet revolution. AU-System (now Obigo) sold its first WAP browser in 1999, and along with Openwave and fellow browser provider Access Co. Ltd. looked to ride a wave of wireless data growth.
However, WAP generally failed to induce users’ interest, and the Internet bubble burst. Although mobile-phone providers have been installing WAP browsers into most new phones, usage percentages are still hovering in the single digits.
In February 2002, consulting and technology company Teleca AB acquired AU-System, giving the company important financial backing and stability. Earlier this year, Teleca relaunched AU-System with a new name and expanded business-Obigo.
“Our target market right now is the high-volume handsets,” said Goran Svennarp, Obigo’s director of marketing.
Svennarp discounted the hype surrounding smart phones and advanced mobile-phone operating systems. He said the market for such high-end devices will be a small part of the overall mobile-phone market for many years to come. Thus, he said Obigo is targeting the larger mobile-phone market, expected to reach more than 500 million shipments next year.
Obigo is selling more than simply a WAP browser, Svennarp said. The Obigo Framework product, an evolution of AU-System’s Mobile Suite, is a software package covering most aspects of a phone’s data functions. Obigo’s offering includes a WAP browser, a text and multimedia messaging client, a content manager and a variety of other bits and bytes. The total offering, Svennarp said, allows mobile-phone manufacturers to release new advanced mobile phones quickly and easily.
“It reduces time to market,” he said.
The key aspect of Obigo’s framework is that it ensures all the parts of the mobile-phone’s functions work together. For instance, a user could receive a text message with a link to a WAP site and could launch the phone’s browser to view the link. By linking all of the phone’s various data functions, Obigo hopes to spur data use. However, Obigo customers can also pick and choose which aspects of the framework they want to purchase, be it just the browser or the messaging client. Svennarp said 90 percent of the company’s customers are electing to purchase the entire framework.
Obigo too is using a variety of selling strategies to promote its new framework offering. The company has teamed with chipmakers, including Texas Instruments, Qualcomm Inc. and Royal Philips Electronics, to pre-integrate its products into the chips. Obigo is also partnering with a range of software providers to supply all its framework technologies. Aplix Corp., for example, is providing a Java virtual machine, while Philips is providing a media player.
Obigo counts Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P., LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Chinese manufacturer Legend and others as customers. Svennarp said more than 80 million devices have shipped with the company’s software. Obigo managed to double its revenues compared with last year, and brought in about $10 million in revenues in the first nine months of this year.
Although the market is huge for mobile-phone software, there’s plenty of competition and challenges.
Obigo rival Openwave this year released its Phone Suite V7 product, which operates much like Obigo’s framework by combining a browser, messaging client, content management and other features into one offering. More than 400 million devices have shipped with Openwave’s software, and seven of the top 10 mobile-phone makers have licensed its V7 product.
Access in Japan also offers a variety of competing software, although the company’s strategy recently has been to target a variety of devices, including personal digital assistants, set-top boxes and video game consoles. More than 100 million devices have sold with Access’ software.
But perhaps the most worrisome challenge facing Obigo and other phone software providers is the ultimate fate of WAP, a protocol on which most of their technology is based. Some in the industry have forecast the oncoming end of WAP, predicting mobile-phone makers will install standard Internet browsers that can render standard Internet sites. Such browsers would eliminate the need for Web site developers to create specialized versions of their Web sites so they can be viewed by WAP browsers.
Others, however, argue that WAP will be around for the long term because it gives carriers more control over users’ wireless Internet experiences. Without WAP, users could visit any site with ease, not just those of carriers’ choosing.
