Speech Synopsis of Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica
Unlike many CEOs in the mobile space, Carsten doesn't just talk the talk, he also walks the walk: In 2007 he has visited a plethora of developing countries to meet with mobile operators and to see at first hand what conditions are like in these emerging markets. Bangladesh, Sudan, Nigeria, India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America have all been visited by Carsten in 2007. These visits have provided him with a rich source of information on the mobile market in these areas, as well as strong views on how the mobile user experience will be shaped in these emerging markets over the coming months and years.
In his speech, Carsten will draw on his own experiences in these regions, as well as his proven business acumen and strong technical prowess, to paint his vision of the mobile user experience in the developing world:
He will discuss why he believes that some applications, such as mobile email, will take off first in the consumer / prosumer segments in these emerging markets - rather than in the Western world - due largely to the lack of fixed-line / broadband and PC penetration in the developing world, which makes sending and receiving email something that currently necessitates a trip to an internet cafe
He will discuss why he believes that the mobile industry must not fall into the trap that some players have done in the West, of focusing their efforts on applications that require software to reside on the client device. Applications and services that will work best in emerging markets are ones that are kept simple and do not require users to change phones or install software on their phones. Most of the mobile devices being used in emerging markets are feature phones, not smartphones - something that application developers and mobile operators ignore at their peril
He will discuss some of the key challenges that mobile operators face in these emerging markets to reduce churn, which in turn have an impact on customer experience. In these markets, the majority of customers are on a prepaid contract, making churn a significant problem. Some operators are coming up with novel ways of reducing churn: for example, by offering mobile email for free to their subscribers and paying for it out of their marketing budget as a customer acquisition charge. New business models, such as these, will come to the fore first in emerging markets and will shape the user experience in new and perhaps hitherto unconsidered ways
