Apple’s iPad is now out. Everyone knows that. But if you have seen Steve Job’s keynote, you would have noticed his initial talk on the world of Mobile Business and how Apple is the biggest mobile company in the world, ahead of Sony, Samsung and others. By many accounts, iPhone/iPod Touch’s web access accounts for majority of mobile web access. Also, most pundits agree that most growth in this decade will be in mobile space.
What does this mean? Apple has a chance to dominate and rule the mobile space in many different ways. It can try the advertisement piece for sure, at least on its ecosystem, and possibly even search, again, possibly within its ecosystem. It could still be a significant business even if it can never reach the scale and size of Google. This is simply because of the size of its ecosystem. Add iPad to the mix, and if it becomes a blockbuster (and there is no reason why it can not, as there is no compelling alternative from any other major player yet; the only competition to the iPad is itself, its limited functionality in someways which it is sure to overcome in coming iterations), it will have a huge ecosystem to build search and advertisement businesses on.
Apple has already bought a mobile ad company in the recent past. It has bought a company in Maps space recently. Look for it to buy a company in the Search business in 2010 or develop something of its own.
Apple will make a move into search in 2010.
Steve Job’s townhall ranting about Google is a definite call for a bloody fight into enemy territory.
