Empirical Findings on the Mobile Internet and E-Commerce

This paper discusses the evolution of mobile services and associated potential for mobile e-commerce. In particular, the current operator-driven business ecosystems are contrasted to the potential mobile Internet revolution. Critical factors and characteristics of cellular and Internet business ecosystems are identified. Potential for radical changes in mobile services business exists if inducing trends drive the disruptive potential of mobile Internet services. The paper identifies several measures that can be used when projecting to which extent the mobile Internet has emerged. These measures are used in a case example comparing Finnish early-adopter smartphone users between 2005 and 2006. The results indicate that the mobile Internet has not really kicked off in large scale in Finland yet. On the contrary operators have slightly increased their power because handset bundling with mobile subscriptions is now allowed in Finland. The measurement framework can be further utilized both in crosssectional and longitudinal study settings in evaluating the emergence of the mobile Internet. Accurate studies on mobile e-commerce can also be done. The emergence of the mobile Internet provides a lot of potential for mobile ecommerce to fly.