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SINGAPORE: Yahoo! is banking on mobile devices for future growth -- particularly in Asia -- as consumers leapfrog cumbersome computers to access the Internet via feature-packed handheld gadgets.
The US Internet giant believes "smartphones" with better operating systems, high-speed Internet networks, falling prices and a plethora of content will fuel the mobile boom.
Markets in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia will lead the way, Yahoo! executives said at a telecom trade fair in Singapore.
"We see a significant number of people who will have their first Internet experience on their mobile phone," said Matthias Kunze, Asia-Pacific managing director for Yahoo! Mobile.
In Indonesia, mobile data subscribers have outnumbered users of personal computers, Kunz told AFP on Tuesday on the sidelines of the CommunicAsia 2010 technology conference and exhibition.
India has about 40-50 million PCs but this is far fewer than the estimated 550 million mobile subscribers, of whom around 20 million use their handheld gadgets to access the Internet.
"We expect mobile data users (in India) to surpass PC users in the next two to three years," said Kunze.
"For a company like Yahoo! mobile is actually critical in its strategy because if we're not on mobile, we will miss the boat," he added.
He said mobile phones play a crucial role because they are the most ubiquitous devices in the world.
"Maybe there are only more toothbrushes in the world than mobile phones," Kunze said.
Irv Henderson, vice president for product management at California-based Yahoo!, said the Asia-Pacific region currently accounts for 25-30 per cent of the company's global mobile audience.
Kunze added this is projected to grow by "double or triple digits" in the next two to three years.
"We believe growth will unevenly skew towards this market," said Henderson.
Yahoo! Mobile is positioning itself to be ahead of the game, with special focus on India, Indonesia and other emerging Asian markets.
At CommunicAsia, it announced the availability of a mobile phone made by France's Alcatel and China's TCT Mobile featuring an embedded one-touch button that links users directly to a suite of Yahoo! services.
The services cover Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger as well as the company's Homepage, Search, Social Pulse, Flickr, Address Book and Calendar services.
The phone, priced at under US$100, will be launched in India by the end of July and subsequently in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand within this year.
Yahoo! also announced a scheme in which the Yahoo! Messenger application programme interface, or API, will be made available to "partners and third-party developers" in the Asia-Pacific.
"We believe by opening up our API it will foster innovation in this region," said Henderson.
Last month, Yahoo! announced a "strategic alliance" under which Nokia will supply maps and navigation services to the web company.
Yahoo! will then provide email and chat to the world's top mobile phone maker.
Yahoo! has also acquired Koprol, an Indonesian Internet service that lets people use mobile phones to instantly connect with nearby users.
"We are operating on the thesis that tens and hundreds of millions of users will come to mobile data over the next five years. We see a phenomenal opportunity through our partnerships," Henderson said.
Kunze added: "The world has changed in the last 24 months and that's why we also have to embrace this change and make sure that the whole company breathes and lives mobile. I think this is happening." - AFP/jy
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