The changing phase of mobile devices.

As portable devices such as mobile phones, tablets and notebooks become more popular, companies need to watch for the trends now when deciding on the platforms to engage their customers

Gartner: Android smartphone sales surged 888.8% in 2010

Manufacturers shipped 67.2 million Android smartphones last year, up from 6.8 million in 2009. That works out to an average 184,000 Android smartphones sold per day. By comparison, Apple sold an average 127,000 iOS smartphones a day, or 46.6 million for the year.

Previously, Apple, once thought to be a dominant iOS for smartphones has now lost his growth compared the the explosive growth of Android smartphones.

In an earlier note, Nokia must change or be 'burned alive', says chief executive Stephen Elop it is clear that Nokia has lost its edge on the mobile phone market.

So how does this affect your business?

1) Applications.
If you are interested in creating apps for your clients, Android is now a very promising platform, more so than iOS. You can almost ignore Symbian development platform.

2) Mobility.
When more people have 3G enabled devices, they are able to go online on the move. It means there are more people you can engage around the clock on social networks if you engage them properly.

3) Information.
With the increase in 3G users and information at their fingertips, it is harder for a "sale" to sell things which is not as good. Customers have all the information at their fingertips to compare prices and talk about your company. It is important to watch what the public is saying and react and adjust to the responses.

4) Location based apps.
With more GPS enabled phones sold, there are more opportunities to leverage on apps like Foursquare and Gowalla to promote your business. The number of users is growing and watch what your competitors are doing or offering.

-- Robin Low