Spending by European businesses on mobile systems is rising
fast and will hit £1.8bn by 2006, Datamonitor has
predicted.The research firm said spending on mobile
business systems, which was an estimated £290m in 2002, will rise
sharply over the next few years. The main sectors spending money on
mobile systems include financial services, telecoms and utilities,
but the fastest growth rate is being seen in the healthcare
sector.
Healthcare organisations across Europe are
investing heavily in mobile data systems. Their spending on mobile
applications is set to rise by 93% a year and will be worth £185m
by 2006, Datamonitor said.
Nick Greenway, mobility analyst at
Datamonitor, said the widespread adoption of mobile business
systems could bring big changes to the ways core vertical markets,
including public services, the car industry, logistics and the
travel and leisure industries, do business.
As mobile, web-based service technologies
emerge, sub-sectors of specific vertical markets will be able to
link up and change the way they operate, Greenway said.
In the transport industry, for instance,
linking up a whole chain of now-separate operations could increase
efficiency in the way parts are managed and delivered, from the
initial supply of car components, car assembly, car sales and
after-sales support, through to service and repair and roadside
assistance, he said.
These changes will require mobile applications
suppliers to decide whether they want to remain specialist
suppliers in small niche markets or become more general,
high-volume suppliers, Greenway added. Large software suppliers
should partner with specialist suppliers, rather than wasting money
to trying to develop their own, end-to-end products for the mobile
data market.