Social networking is moving to the cell phone, where scores of new upstarts are clamoring to become the next Facebook or MySpace. The cell phone market has a few advantages over that of the
Internet: at 3.3 billion, cell phones have a larger worldwide user base, and they also provide global positioning satellite and other location-based technologies.
According
to market researcher Informa Telecoms, about 50 million, or 2.3 percent of mobile users, use their cellphone for social networking, from chat services to file sharing. The company estimates that the
market will grow to 12.5 percent in five years, or roughly 300 million mobile subscribers.
But what about the Internet majors? Won't the Google's and Facebook's of the world
squash these mobile startups? "We don't think any of them will make a big splash in the mobile space," says Lai Kok Fung, CEO of Singapore-based MyGamma. "They view mobile as an extension of the
online site, while we know our members use mobile much differently."
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