Innovation Technologies Usage and Impact on Mobile Phone Industry and Customers - Literature review Example

Innovation Technologies Usage and Impact on Mobile Phone Industry and s Affiliation: Innovation Technologies Usage and Impact on Mobile Phone Industry and Customers Introduction In the 21st century, there are numerous technological innovations in the mobile telephony. Currently, technological innovations in mobile telephony have revolutionised telecommunications, making it easy to communicate via different channels, with people all over the world. Mobile technology increases convenience of communication and contributes greatly in making the world a global village. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and examine the types of innovative technology, analyse the impact of mobile phone technology and discuss the challenges of using innovative technologies in mobile phone industries. According to Blake (2008), extensive research on innovative technologies that include evolution of technological innovations and challenges and impact of this technology has been conducted over the years. However, little research exists which discusses the technological innovations in mobile telephony especially on technological trends and challenges of mobile technological innovations. This paper aims to address this gap by identifying relevant theories and concepts, technological trends, challenges and impact on people. The objectives of this research is to indent technological trends in mobile technology, identify the challenges in the mobile phone industries and discuss the impact of mobile technology on individuals. Literature Review Invention, Innovation and Technology Different authors have different meanings of invention, innovation and technology. Invention and innovations are terms that are used interchangeably. Invention basically means the generation of new ideas that help solve pressing need in the society. Technological innovation therefore refers to the process of translating an inventive idea into a product/service that addresses particular needs of individuals in the society. To be termed as innovative, an idea must be capable of replication at a cost effective price, it also must satisfy particular needs or solve specific problems in the society (Teo, 2003).Technological innovation involves intentional application of information, creativity and initiative to add great value to resources. It includes all processes that lead to generation of new ideas and convert them to useful products/services. In mobile technology, innovation often lead to development of new mobile phones with greater capabilities and applications such as greater phone memories, clear resolution, faster internet and user friendly phone applications. Within the business context, innovation results from applying ideas in order to satisfy customer needs and meet their expectations. Types of Innovation Technology Incremental innovation focuses on making new improvements to existing methods and processes, modifying products and services in order to offer more services and utility to customers. This involves activities such as streamlining existing workflow by automating the work processes, improving websites in order to increase service delivery, thereby increasing website traffic. Mobile technology leverages on incremental innovation to develop new features that increase the functionality of mobile phones. For example, the evolution of mobile phones relied heavily on this type of innovation. Incremental innovation results to evolution from cell phones to smart phones that have greater processing speed, durability, greater phone reception and resolution, useful applications. Incremental innovation has resulted to development of new phones with more functionalities and uses. This was achieved through developing current features to increase their efficiency, adding new features and application to existing phones in order to make hem multifunctional. Radical innovation refers to the creation of entirely new processes, products or services in order to respond to market opportunities or solve a particular need in the society. These kind of innovations often result from intense research and development. The research is normally focused on a specific problem/concern that needs a permanent and lasting solution. Radical innovations are also known as breakthrough innovations because they change the entire systems of operations in an organization and often lead to development of new products or services that revolutionize and entire industry. Radical innovation has been experienced in the mobile technology industry over the past. This resulted in production of new phones with new features and applications. Leading mobile phone manufacturers leverage on disruptive innovation in order to produce new products and beat market competition. This led to development of smartphones and tablets that have higher memory capabilities, features, applications and usage. Today, mobile phones are used interchangeably with personal computers because they have high processing speed, memory capabilities, and greater internet reception and user friendly applications. These functions were made possible through use of radical innovation. Integrated innovation refers to a combination of radical and incremental innovation. This approach is useful in providing products with greater processes, features and uses. Mobile phones use this integrated approach to produce phones with higher functionality and uses. These phones have higher internet connectivity, greater resolution and user friendly applications. An integrated approach is appropriate for phones that are made to order. For example, if a customer or group of people such as companies need customized products, using an integrated approach enables the company to achieve this. The company is able to improve current features and add new ones according to customer specifications. Integrated innovation is cheaper and more efficient especially for make to order products that have specific services and applications requirements. Role/Impact of Mobile Phone Technology Mobile phone technology has revolutionized business and personal communication since it has increased reception and usage. For personal communication, mobile phones enable individuals to place personal calls to others at any time with increased clarity and reception. Mobile phones offer clear channels of communication to place private calls at a cost effective way. The phones enable real time communication at the convenience of both the sender and receiver. Business communication was revolutionized by use of mobile technology. This is especially so for bulky short message services and placing urgent business calls to multiple clients (Lu & Yu-Jen Su, 2009). The technology is convenient and cost effective because it is real time and quick. Mobile technology is used to send bulky calls and text messages to customers to advertise products, pass information to customers and induce prospective clients to subscribe to the company’s products and services. Businesses gain revenue from mobile subscription services where customers access products through mobile applications. The mobile technology has improved agricultural productivity for farmers because it provides solution to the existing information asymmetry in the agricultural industry. Lack of access to information forces farmers to practice subsistence farming because they lack the information needed to practice agribusiness. Farming requires use of current technology and information in order to attain higher yields. Mobile technology enables farmers to acquire farming information through browsing the internet and subscription to phone applications and companies that provide farming information (Dittrich & Duysters, 2007). Mobile technology also play a major role in health care provision by providing channels for physicians to disseminate health information to patients and the general society. This help in creating awareness to health concerns such as disease prevention and control. This is achieved through sending bulky messages to patients or availing subscription services where individuals pay a small fee to access medical information. Mobile technology plays a major role in facilitating learning because students can use their phones to search for information. This makes it easy for students to conduct in-depth research quickly and efficiently, enabling them to gain more information and increase their knowledge. Types of Mobile Phone Technologies Mobile code division multiple access (CDMA) is the basic technology used for cellular communication. Mobile phones have evolved from two way pagers to mobile phone handsets with GPS navigation devices, web browsers, instant messaging and applications such as game consoles. Use of wireless networking in mobile phones and use of tablets with 3g and 4g internet technology are some of the latest technological advancements in mobile telephony. 4G networking allows users to browse the internet at faster speeds and make mobile phones useful in accessing online resources and connecting to the World Wide Web. Another mobile technology is the use operating systems with great computing capabilities such as the Android and windows operating systems (Ram & Sheth, 2009). These systems increase the computing capabilities, allowing the phones to support complex applications that offer a wide range of benefits and services to users. The operating systems increase the efficiency of mobile phones, making them an alternative to personal computers that are bulky to use and limit mobility. Another technology is channel hogging and file sharing. File sharing is facilitated by many phone applications such as Bluetooth that allow users to share files and documents without a wired connection. The smartphone technology allows phones to be context aware, leveraging on data exchange interfaces and capabilities. Challenges of using innovative technologies in mobile phone industry Market competition poses a big challenge in the mobile phone industry. The competition is stiff, forcing many mobile phone manufacturers to charge less cost for their innovative products in order to retain a market share. Different companies come up with substitute products, making it difficult for a company to enjoy first in the market advantage. Stiff competition forces firms with weaker financial ability to exit the market because developing a technological innovation takes up much cost yet they can’t sell the phones expensively to recover the cost of production. Another challenge is government regulations that sometimes stifle development of the industry (López-Nicolás & Bouwman, 2008). For example, the governments may charge higher taxes for technological innovations, making it difficult for companies to gain profits from their innovations. The process of obtaining patents may also be tedious with numerous requirement. This may discourage inventors from obtaining patents that protect their intellectual property and allow them to reap monetary benefits from their innovations. Another challenge is the dynamism of mobile technology that may make a company’s product become obsolete even before it recovers the initial capital. New devices are developed so often that companies may be unable to keep up with the changes. Their technology becomes outdated and therefore unable to compete in the market. Theories on Innovative Technologies The diffusions of innovations theory focuses on conditions that either increase or decrease the probability that new idea will be adopted by members of a given society/culture. It predicts that the media provide information and influence people’s opinion and judgement. The theory explains that innovation process has 4 stages that include innovation/ creation of idea, diffusion i.e. disseminating information about the creative ideas through social networks and finally, determination if the probability that the innovation will be accepted by the target group. If accepted, the innovation takes forms and the resultant products/services are highly consumed, leading to generation of profits and other benefits to the inventors. Developer Based (Determinist) theory aims to increase innovation diffusion by optimizing effectiveness, efficiency and functionality of technological innovations. The inventor of a superior technology is viewed as the primary change agent. The theory assumes that the superior innovation will replace inferior innovations (Wu & Wang, 2005). The theory believes that change follows directly from technological revolutions. Adopter Based (Instrumentalist theory) is centred on human and interpersonal aspects. The theory views the end use as the key change factor. It rejects the assumption that superior products/services will automatically replace weaker innovations. It seeks an understanding of the social context in which the innovation will be applied. It advances that an innovation that is user friendly will succeed in the market because the rate of adoption will be higher than a complex innovation that users can barely comprehend its use. Companies that Produce Innovative Mobile Technologies Leading companies that produce mobile phones consisting of innovative technologies include Lenovo, Apple, Samsung, LG and Huawei among others. These companies have been in the market lead in producing mobile technology such as the smart phones, iPhone, I pads and tablets. LG success was attributed to the introduction of 4G enabled mobile phones with greater processing speed and robust phone applications. Huawei produced Ascend Mate 7, P-Series and Honor portfolio that sold well because of their superior innovative capabilities. Lenovo is known for its success launch of huge screened IPhones with great processing speed and multifunctionalities (Liikanen, 2004). Samsung and Apple are the main leaders in providing futuristic mobile technology with almost all computing applications that make their phones superior and durable. 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What drives mobile commerce?: An empirical evaluation of the revised technology acceptance model. Information & management, 42(5), 719-729. Read More