PayPal Goes "Mobile First"

PayPal has decided to consolidate all PayPal product groups into one global product organization led by Hill Ferguson, who was previously in charge of the mobile organization. "Mobile is simpler by definition," says David Marcus, PayPal president.


Some of us would say PayPal is only the latest application provider to go "mobile first" in its product strategy. That's sound thinking.


Consider that many mobile users prefer mobile Internet access and apps to fixed network usage. Hispanics in the United States, for example, "over-index" for mobile application usage. Almost 50  percent of U.S. Hispanic Internet traffic is driven by mobile devices, for example, according to Troy Brown, one50one founder and president. 


According to industry research firm Nielsen, in the US, Hispanics on average spend 20 percent more time on streaming video over mobile than the rest of the population (four hours and 20 minutes per month versus three hours and 37 minutes).

Research from Google indicates that African-Americans over-index versus other segments in accessing video-sharing websites via their smart phones (49 percent versus 43 percent).

Anecdotally, we at one50one see a much higher percentage of African-American and Hispanic audiences watching live performances on their mobile devices, says Brown.