Connected devices are basically products that have a ready Internet connection.  From previous reports, companies are now upgrading their consumer electronic products to become Internet-ready devices.

In this technology-driven world, owning a mobile phone has become a must and has become a part of our day to day life.  For a lot of people, indeed, the mobile phone has become their new best friend. Aside from their basic call features as well as SMS, mobile phones has become the easiest way to connect to the Internet. Studies have shown that the average mobile user has 3 connected devices.

Smartphones and other connected devices are very popular everywhere. Across Asia for instance, Internet-connected devices are gaining in popularity and have already become a strong trend. According to the latest statistics compiled by several market analysts, Asia shall be the future of mobile Internet.  An enormous potential has been sighted for mobile web especially to all developing countries in Asia because it is the most cost-saving and most accessible to connect to the Internet. Contributing to this is the forecasted 836 million mobile shipments to arrive in the Asia Pacific region in 2016.

“Much of the growth in AP will be fuelled by mobile connections in the emerging markets, where the number of mobile phone users continues to steadily increase” according to Adam Leach, Ovum Principal Analyst.

“Within the region, the Big Three markets of China, India, and Indonesia will continue to be the   growth engines for global mobile connections and handset shipments.The arrival of cheaper smartphones into these markets is boosting smartphone penetration and data ARPU for operators, while feature phones continue to remain attractive in rural communities in China, India and Indonesia.”

Moreover, the Asia Pacific region is also expected to hit revenues of $108 billion in 2015.

In a recent survey of the mobile broadband industry in Asia-Pacific, mobile handsets will still be the major driver for mobile Internet, whereas tablets appear as the main driver for the future growth of mobile Internet.  Due to mobility issues and availability of applications ready to be downloaded, tablets have outshone laptops and netbooks in terms of sheer popularity.

With these figures, it is an opportunity for Nokia to regain its falling market share in China.  At least, this will bring back Nokia a little bit closer to where they were in the previous years before the other mobile companies have emerged.  In addition to Nokia’s declining market performance, the Finnish company has also fell to number 2 spot in Western Europe’s total shipment in the second quarter and dropped to number 5 in Europe’s smartphones.  Hopefully, with the release of Nokia-Microsoft phone, it will bring back their consumers and be able to compete again in the market.

Similar to Nokia’s plight, Apple also has its own set of issues and concerns with their market share.  In terms of platform, Google’s Android has dominated in the Asia-Pacific region while Apple’s iOS has struggled in the emerging market. However, with the increasing demands of mobile Internet in the area, a door has opened for Apple to elevate and possibly dominate the platform competition.

Clearly, the supremacy on mobile devices is still anybody’s game.  What I am most excited about is how these major mobile companies take the demands as their challenge to do better.