Mobile World Congress 2012: Rivals target absent Apple as mobile battle heightens

Facebook chief technology officer Bret Taylor used his keynote speech to set out a vision for a ‘mobile web’ app store that would rival Apple’s App Store.

Facebook has partnered companies including Samsung, Microsoft and Orange to ‘evangelise’ a single mobile web standard and simpler payment system that will enable developers to create apps for the mobile web, rather than rely on third-party app stores.

Sony Mobile led the charge for handset manufacturers by revealing it would run an aggressive marketing drive to relaunch the brand, following its buyout of Ericsson’s share.

Calum MacDougall, head of Sony Xperia marketing, told Marketing the company would boost its investment in brand-building in key markets by two to three times its 2011 spend.

Activity launching in March will push the high-end Xperia S phone, which Sony Mobile hopes will establish it as a leading device brand while stealing share from Apple’s iPhone.

HTC also sought to recover from recent difficulties by presenting its upcoming flagship device, HTC One. In a thinly veiled attack on Apple, founder Peter Chou said: ‘Some companies are talking about giving you a great camera, but… a lot of [them] aren’t good enough.’

Samsung, now the biggest smartphone seller, will also seek to improve its standing with its Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Galaxy Beam smartphone.

Meanwhile, Nokia has extended its Groupon tie-up to bolster its location-based offering and build brand partnerships. It is also working with Red Bull and Kraft Foods to broaden its mobile offer.

THE MARKETING VIEW

"The absence of Apple is once again the elephant in the room, writes Matt Chapman. However, so far it looks like no one has done enough to concern the company."

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk