We don't need such a smart world

So the sales of smartphones in the UK are slowing down? Can’t say I am surprised. When the iPhone launched it was a luxury item and penetration was – as every old skool mobile company wouldn’t stop telling me in 2007/8/9 and even 10 – tiny. But Android came along and made them cheaper. Nokia had a stab at smartening up and prices fell (and user experience) still further. Operators now bundle even the lesser-spotted white iPhone into £40 a month bundles.

But for many people, a £40 a month bundle is still too expensive and so, naturally, given the price point we are at, smartphone penetration has slowed and might even plateau – until of course iPhone 5 suddenly makes all other iPhones all but worthless.

This slowing in smartphone penetration is being trumpeted as being really bad news for m-commerce, as it means we are at the limit of users and so what we have now is what we will be stuck with in terms of m-commerce use and revenues.

Au contraire! You don't need widespread smartphone penetration for m-commerce to grow. All you need are the simple things such as text and voice shortcodes, some basic banner ads and Payforit and you have the perfect 100% m-commerce penetration rate.

As our lead story about Orca Digital points outs, voice shortcodes are a force to be reckoned with, offering a great alternative to 08 and 09 numbers on mobile – and giving consumers clear pricing – so that things can be sold and billed for via mobile without having to have web-enabled smartphones and tablets. And Orca should know: it leads the pack in revenues generated in telemedia from voice shortcodes.

Of course, as smartphones do slowly become the norm (the Nokia-Microsoft tie up is likely to create a raft of cheap smartphones) then perhaps other forms of mobile payments – which is really the essence of mobile commerce – will come to the fore, but for now you need nothing more than text and shortcodes to create a thriving marketplace that everyone can join in.

I think that, after something of a false start, we are going to start to see a lot more of Payforit across the spectrum of mobile devices as it becomes an easy to use payment tool. There is even research out there that the Payforit brand isn’t even that important – so long as people trust that the micropayment will be successfully completed. So am I bothered that smartphone penetration is stuck at 35%? Not really. Are you?