SOS for SMS?

Apple's iPhone has proved wildly popular, even at a price point that made it prohibitively expensive for a large portion of the population. So, as the new version (iPhone 3G) hits the market in July with a price tag of only $199, we'll probably see a flood of new iPhone users. How will this impact the technology you use for email campaigns? In a post at the mobileStorm blog, Eydie Cubarrubia says, not much: "[I] believe older messaging technologies will stay relevant for iPhone users." Here's why SMS and mobile email, not Web ads, will still work best to reach iPhone users:

-AT&T's new data plan is $10 more than before. Even though AT&T is subsidizing the cost of the iPhone to get the price down, it's making up costs with a new monthly fee. "Since it will cost more to use mobile Internet," she says, "consumers might not want to spend as much time online with their phones—and thus could be less likely to stop and look at ads, or let themselves be directed to Web sites they didn't intend on viewing."

-The iPhone still lacks MMS (multimedia messaging). According to Cubarrubia, this leaves good 'ole SMS the top pick for text-only messages and mobile email. Further, these are also the technologies used by most everyone else.
"[T]hose on a budget—and let's face it, that's the majority of cell phone users in both the US and around the world—are going to stick with cheap phones with SMS," Cubarrubia concludes.

The Po!nt: SMS and mobile email are here to stay. Says Cubarrubia, "SMS and mobile email will remain at the forefront, no matter what Apple does."

Source: mobileStorm. Read the full post here.