Mobile commerce is coming. Web developers who have the skills necessary to create custom and semi-custom mobile applications and stores could demand lucrative rates of more than $150.00 USD per hour in the next few years.
Although many consumers are still concerned about mobile commerce’s security and privacy, the channel will develop, potentially reaching $750 million USD this year, according ABI Research, and exceeding $2 billion U.S. by 2015.
In addition to the financial indicators, mobile Internet access is becoming common, with an estimated 19 percent of Americans using the Internet via a mobile device daily, according research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Furthermore, in mid-2009, 32 percent of Americans had Internet-enabled mobile phones, up from just 24 percent in 2007, implying that mobile Internet use could grow significantly even without the introduction of new infrastructure.
“Mobile access strengthens the three pillars of online engagement: connecting with others, satisfying information queries, and sharing content with others,” said John B. Horrigan, associate director of the Pew Internet Project and principal author of the Pew Internet PDF report, Wireless Internet Use](http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2009/Wireless-Internet-Use.pdf). “With access in their pockets, many Americans are ‘on the fly’ consumers and producers of digital information.”
And a significant portion of that digital information will likely have to do with products or services related to mobile commerce.
The Opportunity for Developers
The forecast growth in mobile Internet use and in mobile commerce represents a significant opportunity for savvy developers with the proper skills to design and build mobile applications and stores.
While many developers will create apps to sell or create platforms to license, there could be many more who earn lucrative project fees or salaries building mobile commerce-related solutions for clients or employers. And now is the time to develop the skills required for the forecast explosion in mobile commerce.
The Skills Required
While this is in no way a comprehensive list of the mobile commerce skills developers should or could cultivate, it is a great place to start. And remember you don’t need to be an expert in every discipline to earn lots of money as a mobile commerce developer. Pick the skills you think make the most sense for you and grow.
Adobe Flash. The forthcoming Adobe Flash release will allow skilled Flash developers to output their work in the iPhone’s native .ipa file format. Thus, you’ll be able to create fully functional mobile commerce applications in Flash, output those applications as .ipa, and give your clients an iPhone/iTouch application they can upload to iTunes, the Apple app store. In addition, the iPhone may soon support a Flash Player 10 plug-in, something that most smart phones already do.
iPhone SDK. Take advantage of Apple’s free iPhone software development kit (SDK), and you could be unlocking the door to much higher hourly rates. There is even a free online course from Stanford University, CS 193P iPhone Application Programming, to help you get your first iPhone app up and going.
Android SDK. Google’s Android mobile platform is another good way to take advantage of the forthcoming mobile commerce developer boon. The Android SDK is free to download. The Android developers community is helpful and there are videos and guides to get you started.
BlackBerry’s SDK. With hundreds of millions of handsets in use, BlackBerry represents a huge potential market, so learning to develop for this platform could be significant. Check out the BlackBerry Developer Zone and consider getting certified.
Palm SDK. The folks at Palm have placed a lot of emphasis on third-party applications and consider them an important part of the Palm user experience. So they are happy to help you learn how to develop product recommenders or augmented reality apps for mobile commerce.
Symbian SDK. What to reach billions of potential customers? Develop mobile commerce applications for the Symbian OS.
Java. Yes, Java. Outside of the much-ballyhooed iPhone and Android platforms, many mobile applications require Java development skills.
C++. This is another important language in the mobile development world, consider brushing up on your C++.
Editors Note: Have you developed a mobile application or store? Please tell us about it in the comments, below. We might feature it and you in a forthcoming article.
