The technology startup space has become increasingly crowded and competitive. Don’t expect that to change in 2013, but as a consumer of web and mobile products, that is in your interest because you will have choice. This startup trends for 2013 list is not complete. I encourage you to submit your startup trend 2013 in the comment box below.
Another year of the tablet
One technology prediction for 2012 that came true is the emergence and growth of tablets. Almost every tech giant launched a new tablet. Apple iPad Mini- in their bid to capture larger share of the tablet market, Google/Samsung Nexus 10, Amazon Kindle HD, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2, Microsoft Surface and Barnes and Noble Nook HD. These tablets were all launched in 2012: an interesting trend in 2012.
Well these tablets will get better in 2013, not just hardware but software that powers them! Tablets need Apps. More and more people are getting used to tablets and they will need optimized and better apps for their devices. The most common uses of tablets are watching videos, getting news, and checking sports scores, yes sports scores! The demand for tablet apps is getting bigger. In a study by the The Online Publisher’s Association (OPA), the total market for paid tablet apps in 2012 was target at $2.6 billion. That should get your attention if you intend to build a tablet app in 2013.
Not just tablets, but smartphones
Well it is not just about tablets, smartphone usage is on the roof, and technology giants are responding to the costumer demands. Even though the smartphone war is mostly between Apple and Samsung, Google is making a huge difference with it’s new Nexus smartphone. My point is that the increase in demand for smartphones directly means the demand for mobile apps will surge in 2013. The demand for both tablet and smartphone apps will be enormous, and not just any app, only the most needed apps will emerge on top of the markets.
Do not ignore the mobile platform
You cannot ignore the mobile platform in 2013. According to Nielsen, the minutes spent per month on apps more than doubled from March 2011 to March 2012. It will interest you to know that users most time-consuming mobile activities are gaming, social networking, and using music apps. Social apps are currently centered around Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Pinterest, expect that to change soon. People are busy thinking about new ways to innovate and change the social apps industry. Google is trying really hard to change the face of social communication with its Google+, it looks promising but it’s still not a killer. Well, we will see in 2013.
If you intend to create a new mobile app to break into the top mobile apps, it must be really useful for consumers. The App Store now hosts over 700,000 apps, (with 250,000 specifically for iPad) an increase of 10,000 from June 2012 to September 2012. And the Google Play Store has over 600,000 apps. Consumers have lots of choice, so you should be offering a great app that cannot be ignored.
79% of the time spent using mobile apps is spent using social media and gaming apps. You have to build the right mobile app to make the most of the mobile platform. If you find a way to carve your own niche in a social or gaming app, the rewards are endless. Facebook devotees now spend a billion hours a month playing games on the social network, bBig brands still use social games as a marketing tool through techniques such as in-app ads, and “gamification”. Gartner Research has announced that 70% of Global 2000 organizations will add at least one gamified solution by 2015, 80% of gamification projects will fail because of poor design: don’t be a victim of poor design in 2013. Mobile retail apps might also present a more promising opportunity, given the recent explosion in mobile commerce and Facebook’s determination to make the most of social mobile commerce.
If mobile, serve ads
The mobile ad industry continues to expand, develop and grow as huge waves of investment flow into the sector. There are now over 1.2 Billion people accessing the web from their mobile devices. And Google alone earns 2.5 Billion in mobile ad revenue annually. That cannot be ignored. Google is dominant and there is no stopping them. They are good at it. In fact ads are the life blood of Google.
Watch out for other players like Millennial Media, JumpTap, SapientNitro, iAd, Xynga,InMobi, Kiip, Mojiva and Nexage. You have to do a lot more to push them over. If you intend to break into the mobile ads space you must be offering something really significant. Many of the important companies don’t disclose their revenues, size or reach; and many clients don’t really know how to utilize mobile ad campaigns properly. This space still evolving, you can study trends and jump in to grab a portion of the pie.
It’s all about the CLOUD
Think about it, all of your purchased or uploaded content (music, movies, books, photos, e-Books, games) are now stored and be accessed across different mobile platforms. You can purchase e-books or any file on your laptop, well not really, on your smartphone is now simpler and those files can be accessed on different mobile devices. Hundreds of new cloud apps will be launched in 2013, and popular file sharing apps like Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Minus, SkyDrive and SugarSync will still be fighting hard for your loyalty.
The problem is, it is still difficult to access content across platforms. This is changing, as all of your content will be stored in the cloud and available on each of your devices — and you will be able to share them with friends. You will want to be able to watch a movie or play a game online on your tablet, go to your laptop and still find the movie or game in the same state you were just viewing on your tablet or smartphone-CMWire
Mobile payment is set to explode
The number of merchants accepting mobile payments is exploding, and many of these new users are trying out mobile commerce for the first time. The likes of Square, LevelUp, Google Wallet and Apple’s Passbook will record massive growth in 2013. And the interesting thing is that it’s just the beginning. Key players like Apple, Google and Amazon are watching closely. eMarketer predicts that by 2016, the total transaction value of mobile payments in the U.S alone will hit $62.24 billion.
Content Curation is still hot
Content Curation-the act of discovering and presenting digital content was popular among consumers and publishers in 2012. And it will still be hot in 2013. Instead of focusing on generating new content, curation focuses on amassing content from a variety of sources, and delivering it to readers in a visually appealing and organized manner. The likes of Pinterest, Scoop.it, Storify and Paper.li have shown why content curation is still hot.
In 2012 Pinterest became the third most popular social network in the world. In January 2012, comScore reported the site had 11.7 million unique users, making it the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark and reportedly added 5 million more new users in February 2012 alone.
Photo sharing is getting bigger
Photo sharing is going no where. In fact there are now better ways to share images. With improved smartphone cameras, every smartphone user is now an amateur photographer. And guess what, Instagram has reinvented photo sharing. You apply digital filters to your images and share them with your friends. The emphasis on limited features often allows for a better user experience.
It doesn’t get simpler than that. Hundreds of millions of photos are shared on social platforms each month. Millions of consumers will have the opportunity to use photo sharing apps for the first in 2013. Mobile photography will even get better with the launch of Instagram web profiles. Popular brands will take advantage of mobile photography to get consumers to like their Instagram profiles.
This post cannot cover all the startup trends in 2013, submit your startup trend for 2013 in the comment box.
