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09/10/2002		Jupiter research reports that premium Mobile Messaging revenues will rival online advertising by 2006

Headline

Wireless: A new push for e-mail By Kevin J. O'Brien, International Herald Tribune Published: September 11, 2006

BERLIN For seven years, "push" e-mail for mobile devices has attracted a small, dedicated cadre of professionals who don't want to be separated from the daily message flow. But for e-mail hardware and software makers, this tiny group of tech-friendly workaholics is no longer enough.

That's why this month, the industry is flooding the market with a range of new devices that aim to bring push e-mail, which gets automatically relayed to hand-held gadgets like cellphones, to the masses.

There is certainly room for growth. Radicati, a research company in Palo Alto, California, estimates that push e-mail users will rise to 100 million in 2009 from 10 million this year. According to Canalys, a research company based in Reading, England, Europe has lagged North America in push e-mail use ever since Research In Motion introduced its iconic BlackBerry in 1999.

Today, more than three million people in the United States use BlackBerrys. But in Europe, push e- mail remains a rarity. Of 100 million e-mail accounts in Europe, only 1.65 million - less than 2 percent - are using forwarding software to push e- mails to handsets, Canalys estimates.

"The market in Europe for mobile e-mail is behind that of the United States," said Roy Bedlow, European general manager for Palm, a California-based maker of personal digital assistants and smartphones.

The company is expected Tuesday to introduce a Treo handset for Europe that runs on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software and on third-generation cell networks. Palm already sells the 700W, a smart phone running Microsoft software, in the U.S. market.

Palm used to make devices that ran only on its own operating system, but it added a Microsoft version as the market has grown. Bedlow said, "We are focused on increasing mobile e-mail adoption in Europe." But the competition for a new, high- powered Treo will be stiff.

High Tech Computer of Taiwan introduced four devices for Europe last week - the S620, P3300, P3600 and S310 - that seek to exploit push e-mail. "The adoption of mobile e- mail is a very strong underlying growth trend for all of our products," said Florian Seiche, vice president for Europe at High Tech.

All High Tech handsets run on Windows software, an example of how Microsoft is leveraging push e- mail to make gains in mobile software. Cellphone operating systems are still dominated by Symbian, a venture led by Nokia and Ericsson whose software is on 77 percent of all Internet-capable phones.

In March, Microsoft began offering businesses push e-mail in free upgrades to existing Windows Exchange Server 2003 programs and Windows Mobile 5.0 hand-held software. Marianne Roling, director of mobile and embedded devices for Microsoft in Europe, said many customers were taking up the offer.

Worldwide, the number of Windows Mobile software licenses rose 95 percent from a year earlier to six million in the year that ended June 30, Roling said. There are now more than 100 devices running Windows Mobile software made by 47 manufacturers and sold by 115 mobile operators.

"I think the spread of mobile e- mail in Europe is going to be strong, because Europeans are used to text messaging, and the transition to e- mail isn't hard," Roling said.

That could be a challenge to Research In Motion, or RIM. Some of its business customers must buy RIM servers, pay license fees and monthly fees to push e-mails. Roling maintains that Microsoft's Windows alternative saves businesses 30 percent of mobile e-mail costs.

"Microsoft could make inroads; it's all about having the resources in place and the specialists to support the sales," said Rachel Lashford, a senior analyst at Canalys. "Having said that, RIM has set the gold standard. I think the overall market will grow but RIM will remain on top."

James Hart, who heads European marketing for RIM, said the firm's push e-mail system was the world's most secure and the only one, for example, used by British intelligence services. To broaden its customer base, RIM introduced the Pearl last week, a smart phone that e-mails like a BlackBerry with a media player and camera.

"We are absolutely entering the consumer segment," Hart said. "It's not just about work anymore but about life. Consumers want something they can take out and use socially - not necessarily the more bulky traditional BlackBerry."