With the IPhone growing almost as ubiquitous as cell phones themselves, businesses large and small are rapidly developing versions of their established web sites specifically for the Apple device, apparently whether there’s a good reason for it or not.Â
As Apple has redundantly advertised, one of the iPhoneâs greatest strengths is it’s full Web browser that enables users to access and view complete, original Web sites and not “watered-down ones” designed for small cell phone screens. Despite this established fact, a number of companies, including Ion Interactive, are preparing to release software that “helps marketing departments customize their businessâs web site for the iPhone.”
As the Wall Street Journal sarcastically reported, “this is one of those company-youâve-never-heard-of-does-something-you-donât-care-about stories. Except that it illustrates how easy it is to get caught up in the moment.”
A study conducted by Internet Researchers StatCounter showed that people who own iPhones account for only about 0.18% of Internet browsing in the US. Naturally, one would only speculate that the majority of those unique users visit more established, iconic websites like MySpace, Google, or Yahoo when they find time to browse the web from their mobile handset. Companies like Ion Interactive, however, are striving to change the browsing habits of iphone users by helping businesses of all sizes attract and retain consumer attention through products and services that will customize websites specifically for the iPhone.
It’s a forward-thinking plan that currently clashes with the conventional wisdom that the iPhone is mobile marketing territory for the “big boys only.” Nonethless, learning, planning and building for the “unavoidable future of mobile smartphone growth and its resulting demand” is potentially one of the smartest courses of action for any mobile marketing business to undertake in 2008.
