With the recent surpassing of mobile web traffic over classic PC-based traffic, emphasis has been placed on businesses to establish themselves in the mobile realm. However, much of this mobile growth is coming internationally, leading to a need to integrate mobile development with localization.
Projections
Everyday we read the “latest projections” for mobile, each telling us a different statistic, but all demonstrating the same idea: mobile usage is surpassing PC usage and mobile usage is increasing in developing countries. ABI Research has indicated that mobile commerce will grow to $119bn by 2015. That a number that is hard to ignore, especially so when mobile phones often provides the only pathway to the internet for users in developing countries.
What Does This Mean for Global Business?
Businesses without an established plan to capitalize on increasing mobile use in developing markets are sure to fail in those markets. Surely, if one’s competition is localizing their mobile efforts in a market, then consumers in that market will prefer their products as if those products are their own. It’s a large initiative, but the process may already be in place…
Localization and Mobile
Companies that have previously localized their websites need only to adapt their site to mobile. This process is mostly test-intensive and involves checking functionality across mobile platforms. Localizing mobile apps is test-intensive as well, stemming from the differences in Android, Apple, Blackberry and Windows mobile operating systems.
It’s obviously important for businesses to keep up with these emerging trends to stay ahead of the competition. Assuming, however, competing businesses are operating under similar global initiatives, it comes down to who does it better; who has the best tools.
More Information on Mobile & Globalization
Stay tuned for an informational webinar on Thursday, December 1st from Lingoport CEO Adam Asnes and LocLabs CEO Danica Brinton who has worked on mobile and game localization strategies with many top global companies.
- Information and registration available at: https://lingoport.com/webinars/mobile-apps-i18n-global-games-l10n-mobile-internationalization-localization/
