The mobile space is awash in applications, or "apps," as they are commonly called. On the heels of Apple's success with the App Store, unveiled in July 2008, other device manufacturers and operating system providers, including BlackBerry and the Android platform championed by Google, opened their own virtual storefronts. Still others are readying for launch later this year, all hoping to take a bite out of Apple.
As a result, consumers feel emboldened to do more with their mobile devices. Accordingly, eMarketer projects that mobile Internet access, through either traditional browsers or installed applications, will see significant gains over the next five years, reaching 134.3 million mobile Internet users in 2013.
While most of us working in technology companies are aware of the mobile Internet tsunami, many businesses have yet to embrace the technology by publishing a mobile version of their own website. Keeping your customers' user experience in mind, I believe we've reached a critical point where businesses must have at least a brochure style mobile site to explain to mobile visitors who you and how you can serve them.
