Mobile 2.0 Meet Up

Last night I attended the SF Mobile 2.0 Meet Up which featured presentations from Symbian, Zannel and Juicecaster. It was really interesting to hear Zannel and Juicecaster side by side as the differences in their business models highlighted some ongoing discussions I've been having with Noel, CEO at Mosio. Specifically we've been discussing the benefits and challenges to on-deck versus off-deck distribution.

Without going into too much detail on either company, both offer lifecasting services from the mobile phone. Zannel's system works via WAP across all carriers, while Juicecaster has JAVA or BREW applications across many by not all carriers. Zannel is monetizing their offering via advertising and sponsorships, while Juicecaster is charging a monthly service. Zannel claims to have well over a million users, where Juicecaster sheepishly claimed to be over 100,000.

Here comes the big difference. Juicecaster, sold for $2.99/month in partnership with the carriers would be generating around $180,000 per month post carrier (my estimate allowing the carriers 40% of the revenue). I have no idea what Zannel is charging for their advertising and sponsorship solutions, but with even 10x the users, I suspect the revenue is less. Juicecaster's revenue is subscription based which means that they are not only getting that first month, but likely 6+ months per user regardless of actual usage.

It is worth noting that Juicecaster has been in existence for at least 3-4 years and has worked very hard to get the carrier deals in place. Zannel's strategy is totally appropriate given the time it arrived in the market. I hope that all the emerging WAP strategies will work well, but for today if given the chance at carrier based revenues, I'd take it any day of the week. The best strategies will do a little of both (why leave revenue on the table?