Over the Easter break, I went back to New York for my annual pilgrimage... This time, I really noticed empirically that the US mobile market had come of age. When I lived in New York and got my first mobile subscription in 2002, penetration was below 50%, you had 6 major operators using 4 different technologies, usage of data services was non existent, and you had to go to dodgy "hole in a wall" kind of shops to get your plan...

By now, penetration is above 80%, there are 4 major operators left, and data services such as V-Cast from Verizon Wireless are in par with what you can get in Europe - especially since they launched their boadcast mobile TV with Qualcomm. From a consumer perspective, the most striking is how distribution has improved. Similarly to what took place in Europe earlier, branded shops (own shops or franchises) are now dominating distribution - with more than 50% of total sales. As growth also slowed with maturity, a lot of small dealers also had to leave the market (not enough commissions anymore). Moreover, specialised distributors have also appeared.

Visiting a BestBuy in New York, I was amazed to see how their mobile - sorry cellphone - shop in shop was similar to a Carphone Warehouse, up to the format and font of the catalogue ! Not that surprising with hindsight as Carphone just announced that, following a successful trial in NYC, they will roll out 200 stores over the next in a JV with BestBuy.