Consumer Buying Power And Decision In Mobile Computing Market
Government consultants constantly harp on about consumer choice as if it is some form of sacred religion. However in reality the choices within mobile computing are limited by the fact of your income. Richer people tend to have better access to mobile computing options whereas poorer people will have to make do with what is available at the time. This is not about income redistribution but an understanding that the ideal of unlimited choices is not open to everyone.

Choice is important in an industry that relies on the ability to establish unique niches within the subsets of mobile computing. Consumers ought to be the driving force of any business and choice enables them to achieve this objective. If they are subject to the whims of a monopoly or a cartel then their influence on the market will be limited and that is how bad practice is perpetuated.
The system of capitalism is very clear in the way that it deals with mobile computing business models. If you have a product that people want then you can increase the price but at the same time if your competitor manages to undercut you or build a competitive advantage then you can be driven out of the market. The ideal is that inefficient firms will be taken out of the driving seat in order to leave space for firms that deliver good services.
The interests of big business are such that they will want to limit consumer choice unless it is a means of letting them join a closed market. That means that they will form trade associations and semi cartels that lock consumers into binding agreements that cannot easily be dismissed. We see this in the mobile phone industry whereby some people are not allowed to access the services unless they sign up for a specific period of time.

When the person wishes to change the supplier, they have to close down the old contracts and start a customer acquisition process that is agreed across the industry. In my view this limits consumer choice in mobile computing. After all if the service that is being provided is of high quality there will be no need to lock in the customer because they will return of their own volition. Consumer protection legislation has attempted to deal with this problem but business is so powerful that any schemes fall short of what is needed.
Consumers themselves have to take responsibility for expanding their choices in mobile computing. Unless you are the grateful recipient of charity, you should never accept packages that do not satisfy your specification. Take for example if you are buying a laptop for mobile computing services. If the sales team sales that you cannot get it anywhere at a cheaper price then you should jump onto the internet and verify their claims. If you find it cheap elsewhere then you can vote with your feet. If everyone did this, the markets would become very efficient.


















