As more people turn to their smart devices for both personal and business tasks, mobile technology is steadily becoming one of the biggest drivers of global innovation.
The rising number of smart phone users globally has not only created new industries but has also had a massive impact on how customers choose to interact with companies and their products and services.
SMEs are looking to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the mobile trends and have the potential to cash in in a big way.
2017 stands to be a benchmark year for mobile and small business, says Andrew Gazdecki, founder and CEO of California-based mobile app publishing platform, Bizness Apps in a recent blog post.
“Not only is new and exciting technology infiltrating the mobile development sector, but the cost of adopting a mobile app for small businesses will also actually be within reach in 2017,” he says.
Nearly half of small businesses in the US, according to a new survey by B2B research company Clutch, will have a mobile app by 2017 or later.
Innovations such as augmented reality apps, location-based app services and with more and more developers starting to embed AI into their apps, mobile technology is expected to reach new heights this year.
Statistics portal, Statista, predicted that there will be 268 million mobile apps downloaded in 2017 and, Gazdecki says those downloads will translate to $77 billion in revenue for businesses.
While South Africa still lags behind countries such as the US, there are a growing number of startups that are pushing the envelope and competing successfully on a global scale.
According a PwC study, revenue from internet access is expected to enjoy strong growth, increasing from R19.8 billion in 2012 to about R59.6 billion in 2017,
The country is experiencing growth in smartphone penetration and mobile app usage, Sufyan Mkwanda, founder of SM Global Tech, an IT services company focused on the SME market, said in an earlier article.
A Mobile Marketing Association of South Africa (MMAS) report revealed that in 2015, 17.7 million of the 37.2 million adult population make use of mobile apps or access the internet via their smartphones, says Mkwanda adding that the country also leads in mobile application downloads in the Sub-Saharan African region.
This presents a massive market for local startups to tap into. However, this also means ensuring you not only find innovative ways to leverage these technologies but also that you keep a step ahead of the growing competition.
One way of doing this is keeping an eye on industry leaders, trendsetters and staying updated on what is happening in countries like the US.
Gazdecki, who has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Inc.com, and Entrepreneur Magazine, breaks down some of 2017’s key mobile app trends you should look out for.
