FUTURE TRENDS

Developing a viable marketing model for MDS is difficult for several reasons. First, the MDS currently on offer occupy only a small portion of the full scope of services that might be developed. Also, most current MDS are relatively primitive and have far less appeal than the more sophisticated versions that will soon become available. Next, current awareness of MDS availability and features is low. Finally, we can expect subscriber needs to evolve as they learn how to use MDS. Nevertheless, the current findings reveal significant preference patterns.

The MDS phenomenon is emerging as a viable business proposition. In Scandinavia, the combination of geographic isolation, a social system that supports early adoption of new technologies, and operator focus on new market segments forms the basis for a "new geographic focus for mobile technologies" (McKnight, 2001, p. 6). In the vast North American market, where incompatible bearer technologies and poor interoperability were barriers, the rapid diffusion of upgraded GSM and 3G looks likely to create new opportunities. In Asia, Japan and Korea are well ahead.

The challenge will be to apply the power of interactive and personalized technologies to help users cope with the exponential growth of demands on their attention (Goldhaber, 1997). In practice, this demands greater precision and a much finer focus for market segmentation. Such new segmentation strategies require major corporate commitments and shift in marketing strategies, actions that incur higher initial costs. This is consistent with the general model of a disruptive technology advanced by Christensen (1997).