Third World Countries Most Keen to Mobile Content

As strange as it sounds, a new report released by the Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience (FAME), and sponsored by Palm, indicates that mobile device users in developing countries are more eager to access content and advanced features than their more developed counterparts, especially the U.S.

The study, titled "Global Mobile Mindset Audit," which uses data gathered by Global Market Insight, concludes that only 22.6% of consumers in the U.S. think that the ability to access the Internet through their mobile devices is important.

This is noticeably lower than the 30.4% of consumers voicing their strong desire for this access in Western Europe, the 53.9% in Eastern Europe, the 56.4% in Asia, and the 63.5% in Latin America.

The illogical findings seem to show that consumers in more developing countries are willing to overlook flaws in communication shortcomings if they are given advanced access in other peripheral areas of service, such as mobile banking capabilities.

Director of FAME, Dave Murray, says this is the case in India. "The idea of a lack of infrastructure goes beyond communications, lack of infrastructure in banking, commerce, and entertainment, which is leaving users in developing countries to rely more heavily on mobile devices."

The study also points out the harm that is done by retail outlets, where consumers are starved of high quality information concerning the devices they purchase. Consumers in the U.S. tend to be more affected by this than international consumers, who rely more heavily on reviews, and have more knowledgeable salespeople at their disposal.

This information could be helpful to mobile service providers in the U.S. The nascent weak mobile content arms of these companies, most clearly exhibited in the first flop of ESPN’s mobile venture, could be bolstered by educating sales staff. Strong marketing initiatives might be secondary.

The mobile realm was always expected to grow into a very significant market, but it is interesting to see that maybe the most potential lies in areas outside of markets that are highly saturated with technological luxuries.

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