Mobile instant messaging is expected to take another step forward this week with an announcement that Nokia Corp. will expand its offerings of IM-friendly handsets.
The world’s largest handset manufacturer will build on a two-year relationship with Oz, a Canadian software developer, to embed IM clients on several new models. The software will support the four major IM providers-AOL, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo!-and be embedded on “millions” of handsets, according to an Oz spokeswoman.
The Nokia 6800, an IM-centric device released early in November, was the first mobile phone to be commercially launched with all four messaging services available out of the box, according to Oz. Under terms of the new agreement, Nokia will embed the Oz client on a variety of models.
“It’s clear that mobile IM is going mainstream,” said Skuli Mogensen, Oz’s chief executive officer. “And that’s driven by the operators’ requirements to increase wireless data revenues. The operators are seeing phenomenal take rates, a lot of usage, and customers are satisfied with the service.”
While instant messaging has been an unqualified success in the computer world, it has been slow to catch on in wireless. Interoperability issues among messaging service providers have plagued uptake, and early WAP technologies seemed to take the “instant” out of instant messaging.
By contrast, text messaging has been a resounding success worldwide. More than two years ago, U.S. carriers began offering interoperable short message service, allowing users to send text messages across carriers. The move resulted in a dramatic surge in uptake.
But carriers and developers have taken note of the immense popularity of desktop instant messaging and are working to duplicate the user experience on mobile devices.
“Part of what’s going to drive mobile IM is that you’ve got an installed base of 60 or 70 million (desktop) IM users in the U.S. alone,” said Lewis Ward, a senior research analyst with consultancy IDC. “If you can get even a relatively low level of crossover there, you have tens of millions of mobile users relatively quickly.”
Earlier this year, Ward authored a report predicting a compound growth rate among mobile IM users of nearly 32 percent, resulting in 37 million users by 2008.
One of the keys in drawing traditional users to mobile is to offer the same features they’re accustomed to seeing on computer monitors, said Ward. The ability to create buddy lists and know who’s available to chat-a feature known as “presence”-may drive uptake.
“The battle here is one of having the user interface (on the handset) be as close to the wireline world as it can,” said Ward.
Although the Oz client supports four IM providers, it doesn’t fully resolve the issue of interoperability. Messaging fans can use only one service at a time on a handset and can’t exchange messages between providers. Text messaging services in the United States didn’t take off until interoperability between network providers was resolved.
And Ward said he doesn’t expect the IM interoperability problem to be solved soon.
“It gets very tricky how the revenues get split up. Because the landline portals have invested so much money in the system, I think we’re going to continue to see interoperability be an issue, and that will constrain growth, certainly.”
Even without such an agreement, though, it appears mobile instant messaging is finally beginning to gain traction. As more devices support familiar and easy instant messaging, more consumers will embrace the application, Mogensen said.
“I think in order to penetrate anything in terms of mass-market coverage, you need to have familiarity,” said Mogensen, who thinks 75 percent of all new U.S. handsets will have embedded IM software. “If you can put something on the phone that consumers recognize, they are much more likely to use it.”
