Article at a glance:

Mobile portals mobilize for scale

No fewer than 200 mobile portals were launched in Europe over an 18-month period. Those portals are using various economic models—charging for each transaction (a weather forecast, for example) or concentrating on advertising revenue. Whatever model mobile portals use, most of them are struggling to make money and won't survive the inevitable shakeout.

The take-away

Survival will depend upon scale, since revenues and profitability in the business largely reflect the size of the customer base. How to build scale? Provide easy access at reasonable cost, be an ace brand manager, and get plugged into the services customers want. Delivering on all three will help portals prepare for the coming of worldwide competition.