Wall St. broadly accepts that the next frontier for online search and web use will be the cellphone. That assumes, of course, the consumers want to use tiny screens to access the internet. A related theory says that people will want to watch a lot of video on their phones.
But, what it the forecasts are wrong? That would take away a lot of the "upside" from revenue for companies like Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO) and Microsoft’s (MSFT) MSN.
According to The New York Times "surveys by Yankee Group, a Boston research firm, show that only 13 percent of cellphone users in North America use their phones to surf the Web more than once a month, while 70 percent of computer users view Web sites every day." With the dawn of technologies like WiMax, it may be easier for people to simply take small laptops and access the web from those, any time and any where.
Investors can read thousands of articles on the subject of using mobile handsets to access the internet. But, the argument will alway hinge on one issue–are people willing to use web-based functions which they can hardly see on a tiny screen?
A great deal depends on the eventual answer to that question.
Douglas A. McIntyre
Are You Still Paying With a Debit Card?
The average American spends $17,274 on debit cards a year, and it’s a HUGE mistake. First, debit cards don’t have the same fraud protections as credit cards. Once your money is gone, it’s gone. But more importantly you can actually get something back from this spending every time you swipe.
Issuers are handing out wild bonuses right now. With some you can earn up to 5% back on every purchase. That’s like getting a 5% discount on everything you buy!
Our top pick is kind of hard to imagine. Not only does it pay up to 5% back, it also includes a $200 cash back reward in the first six months, a 0% intro APR, and…. $0 annual fee. It’s quite literally free money for any one that uses a card regularly. Click here to learn more!
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings to provide coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.