This article is intended for mobile developers who plan to design applications and services for markets in Europe and who want to know more about the region’s cultural and economic environment and design trends.

First, the article discusses key factors that have an impact on the design and development of mobile services and applications, such as the level of mobile technology, and the most important market areas and players. Then, it takes a close look at European mobile design by analysing several success cases.

The first challenge of mobile application design for Europe is that there is no single market to target: Europe comprises a large number of sovereign countries, with different cultures, languages, legal regulations, mobile service providers, and marketing channels. This makes addressing all segments of the European market a nearly impossible mission or, at the very least, a highly complex and expensive endeavour.

Despite the challenge, however, the European market provides a lucrative opportunity for mobile developers and service providers. The market is quite mature, made up of people with a genuine interest in — and the financial resources to pay for — advanced mobile services. In general, the European countries are densely populated with educated people who earn moderately good incomes and who have access to high-speed mobile networks on fairly new mobile devices.

Figure 1. European mobile users have access to both advanced technology and high-speed connections.

As far as mobile services go, the European market is similar in many respects to that of the U.S. There are some differences, though, such as in the projected growth rates of certain mobile services. In a survey conducted by The Nielsen Company in 2008, Americans indicated that mobile internet is the mobile service they are most likely to start using over the two years to follow. For Europeans, instead, multimedia messaging service (MMS) was on top. The following figure shows a detailed breakdown of the top services to be adopted in Europe and the U.S.

One reason for people favouring MMS over mobile internet in Europe and vice versa in the U.S. is that Europeans are accustomed to short message service (SMS) and thus also MMS. In the U.S., MMS became mainstream significantly later, when device support of mobile e-mail and browsing became common. The success of RIM BlackBerry and Apple iPhone devices has paved the way for mobile internet usage in the U.S.

Cost considerations affect the popularity of mobile services. In fact, the bundled service packages sold by operators both in Europe and in the U.S. can affect the usage patterns of consumers very effectively. In the U.S., the messaging features (SMS and MMS) usually are not part of service bundles, and users pay extra for receiving and sending text and picture messages. In Europe, however, the bundles always include messaging features. To build services that will enjoy success, developers need to keep tabs on the pricing strategies of operators in their target regions and see how consumers react to them.

According to another Nielsen study, 15.6 per cent of American mobile subscribers used mobile internet services at least once a month in the first quarter of 2008. Usage rates for mobile internet services in top European markets during a period from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009, according to the study, were as follows:

This shows that the usage rates had increased in all of those countries. This also indicates that although mobile internet is not used in Europe as much as in the U.S., it is being adopted faster in some European countries than in the U.S. This is fabulous news for all mobile developers interested in building mobile web applications and services.