Funambol Report Finds Personal Cloud for Mobile Devices is a Reality

While admitting sample size and selection randomness makes the report somewhat anecdotal and subject to interpretation, Hal Steger, Funambol VP of Marketing stated, "The survey results indicate that there is a large untapped market for digital locker services, which complements Forrester Innovation's recent estimate that the personal cloud market would reach $12B in the U.S. by 2016. This as well shows that the market, driven by several trends, including the rapid proliferation of mobile devices, and new industry offerings, just as Apple iCloud and Funambol MediaHub, is not just hype."

First, given the popularity of things like web mail, where things like addresses, calendars, etc. are stored in what we are now calling "The Cloud," it is not surprising that there is a consumer comfort level with storing more. Just in case, coupling that comfort level with a desire for that cloud experience to be trusted, i.e., secure and private, is no surprise.

The last point

On the last point, we have all dealt with the frustration of managing and synching our multiple online and device-dependent digital personae. This points to the real possibility services and apps providers. As I have detailed recently, the battle for the high-ground of the Internet is being played out globally with the emergence of ecosystem wars. The goal of customer engagement with one’s ecosystem is to entice you in, provide a security blanket of capabilities and dissuade you from ever leaving the ecosystem environment. Browsers, clouds, app stores, operating systems and partners are all part of this war.