The Mobile Handset Ecosystem is a visual dictionary of who's who in the mobile industry. This comprehensive map showcases 400+ leading companies in 30 market sectors, spanning all major players involved from handset design through retailing including development and delivery of hardware, software, SIM cards, services and content.

The Mobile Handset Ecosystem maps the players involved in the core value chain from handset design to retailing, framed by those who participate in the pre-load and post-load phases of the handset lifecycle.

Researched, authored and published by VisionMobile

The map also depicts the stage where companies are involved along the handset lifecycle, from product planning through design, implementation, sale and in-life use.

Part of VisionMobile's Market-How maps, the Mobile Handset Ecosystem distils the noise within the chaos of the mobile telecoms marketplace into clear market sense.

The 100 million club is the watchlist of software companies whose products have been embedded on more than 100 million cellular handsets.

Despite the apparent opportunity in the one-billion-a-year handset market, very few software companies have managed to overcome the commercial and technical challenges inherent in the mobile industry.

Researched, authored and published by VisionMobile

Only 20+ products have shipped on more that 100 million handsets (incl. feature phones) as of end 2007 : Adobe Flash Lite, Aplix Jblend, Esmertec Jbed, ACCESS Netfront, Openwave Browser, Opera Opera Mobile, Picsel Browser, Ikivo SVG Player, Scalado CAPS, TAT Kastor, Beatnik MobileBAE, Nuance Vsuite, PacketVideo CORE, Red Bend vCurrent, Symbian OS, Nokia S60, Qualcomm BREW, Mentor Graphics Nucleus, ENEA OSE, Nuance T9 and Zi eZiText

Updated semi-annually, the 100 million club celebrates software businesses who have succeeded in establishing a significant share in the mobile handset market.

Presenting a 10,000ft view of the changing mobile market, this research analyses the tectonic shifts that are shaking up the marketplace in 2008. This research presentation distils the noise of the myriad of events and announcements in recent days and projects 15 clear trends that are shaping the future of the mobile market in 2008.

This VisionMobile presentation lists the key players in promising new markets such as content remixing, on-device portals, active idle screens, UI frameworks, web & widget runtimes, transcoding proxies, and lists OEM acquisitions, discusses why Nokia is a tier-0 OEM and introduces Channel ARPU.

Researched, authored and published by VisionMobile

This Mobile Megatrends presentation analyses and documents 15 trends that are causing shifts in the control points and value creation in the mobile industry in 2008.

This presentation is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.

As of 2007, open source software is being used by almost 200,000 software projects, including rapidly growing use in consumer electronics and mobile phones. The vast majority of open source projects are licensed under the GPLv2, a highly influential license whose interpretation has been intensely debated.

Independent research paper
Authored and published by VisionMobile

This paper analyses the underpinnings of open source culture that are embodied in GPLv2, dissects the terms and examines the basis of debates. The paper further examines the new terms and differences introduced by the new GPLv3 license and assesses the probable impact of GPLv3 on the software market in general and the mobile industry in particular.

Open source software is one of the most hyped, misunderstood, feared and high impact phenomena in the software industry today. In the last two years, open source has been making a significant impact on the mobile industry. Led by Motorola, NEC, Panasonic and Samsung, several handset OEMs and ODMs have released Linux handsets, while open source software has been adopted by Sun, Google,Adobe, BT,Trolltech and Funambol for use in key products.

Independent research paper
Published by Informa Telecoms & Media
Authored by VisionMobile

This paper analyses five traits which characterise open source software and its impact in the mobile industry, ranging from community culture, to what open source means for mobile Linux, browsers and Java. A summary of forecasts on Linux and Java market penetration to 2012 appears at the end of this paper.

This report presents the advancements in the Mobile Software Management (MSM) market and the opportunities emerging for mobile operators, handset manufacturers and service providers in delivering services at any and every stage in the handset lifetime. The report unveils significant cost savings and revenue streams available to operators and handset manufacturers by using Mobile Software Management (MSM) to overcome many of the commercial challenges in handset software development and service delivery today.

Based on interviews with 20+ companies in the mobile space, the report reviews 8 vendor solutions, 11 software management technologies, and 3 operator cases, and concludes with highlighting the winners and losers in the market. Reviews include Gemalto, HP (Bitfone), InnoPath, Mformation, Nokia S60, Open-Plug, Qualcomm BREW and Red Bend Software.

Independent research paper sponsored by Red Bend
Authored and published by VisionMobile

This independently researched and authored report has been sponsored by Red Bend Software to raise market awareness of the mobile software management market.

In 2007, the idle screen is becoming the epicentre of commercial efforts to facilitate the access, discovery, search and advertising of mobile services. A dozen or more commercial products in this Active Idle Screen (AIS) technology domain, from Abaxia’s Mobile Desktop to Zi’s Qix, are making their presence felt. Operators Alltel, Vodafone Germany, Orange UK, SKT, T-Mobile US and TMN Portugal have all deployed some form of AIS products, while at least three more European operators have issued commercial tenders (RFPs) for AIS solutions. For mobile operators, AIS products have the potential to improve not only data revenues, but also voice and advertising revenues, while at the same time making complex handsets easier to use.

Independent research paper
Published by Informa Telecoms & Media
Authored by VisionMobile

Written by VisionMobile and published by Informa Telecoms & Media in May 2007, this white paper analyses the nascent market for active idle screen solutions, reviews the commercial products available today, provides several case studies of AIS deployments and concludes with a review of market trends in mobile service discovery.

VisionMobile was commissioned by software vendor Red Bend to author an independent research paper on the state of the Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) market. This research paper documents for the first time the growth and maturity of the FOTA market, including a list of 200+ device models which are FOTA-capable, detailed reviews of vendors Bitfone, Fotanics,InnoPath, Insignia, mFormation, Red Bend, SmartTrust and Synchronica, in-depth technology analysis and market forecasts to 2008. The paper was subsequently published by ARCchart and its available through www.arcchart.com.

Independent research paper sponsored by Red Bend
Published by ARCchart
Authored by VisionMobile

Mobile Operating Systems: The New Generation is an independent research paper which examines the new world of handset operating systems, user interface frameworks and application execution environments.

The paper challenges common industry perceptions about the mobile software market and reviews numerous major operating systems and related products. The paper includes 16 in-depth vendor reviews namely A la Mobile, Access Linux Platform, Adobe Flash Lite, GTK+, MiniGUI, Mizi Prizm, Montavista Mobilinux, Nokia S60, Obigo, Openwave MIDAS, Qualcomm Brew, SavaJe, Symbian OS, Trolltech Qtopia, UIQ and Windows Mobile. The paper also maps industry trends such as the emergence of the Flexible OS and the verticalisation of technology supply.

Independent research paper sponsored by Trolltech Authored & published by VisionMobile

This research paper has been sponsored by Trolltech, but represents the independent views of its author. A shorter whitepaper version of this work has also been published by analyst firm ARCchart.

High Capacity SIM cards are a revolution in the making for operator service delivery. Published by Informa Telecoms & Media and authored by VisionMobile, this 32-page white paper analyses the market, the promising applications for high-capacity SIMs and the new business opportunities which they open up. The paper also presents the challenges lying ahead for high-capacity SIM cards, and the complex ecosystem landscape into which they are arriving.

Independent research paper sponsored by Spansion
Published by Informa Telecoms and Media
Authored by VisionMobile

Featuring opinions and up-to-date information from Abaxia, Axalto, Beep Science, Gemplus, Handy Games, M-Systems, Orange, Sagem Orga, Spansion and Swapcom, this white paper is must-read for industry executives wishing to understand the technologies and commercial dynamics in this new market and the opportunities and threats arising as a result of the HC SIM card paradigm.