Why Smartphones are the Future of Law…

Cast your mind back just ten years, to April 2008. The Beijing Olympics was just a few months away and Usain Bolt didn’t hold any world records.  Cristiano Ronaldo was about to inspire Manchester United to Champions League success and Barack Obama was still campaigning to become US President for the first time.

When you think of Usain Bolt smashing the 100m world record in Beijing, it’s almost impossible to believe that not a single person watching owned an Android smartphone!

Remarkably, the first iPhone was only released nine months earlier, and Android wouldn’t exist until several months later. Highlighting the incredible rate at which smartphones have been produced and upgraded, 521 million smartphones were sold in 2011 and that increased to 1.6 billion in 2017.

Smartphones hit the market like few products before them, lighting the touch paper for a fierce war between several multinational corporations. After the release of the iPhone, it took just two years for Google to release their first Nexus phone (through HTC) and at the time Google CEO Eric Schmidt is on record saying:

‘Mobile is the future and there’s no such thing as communication overload,’

Looking back at his quote eight years later it seems almost prophetic, visionary at least. Within three years of making that quote he had been proven correct, with 65% of US adults owning a smartphone by 2013, which prompted his famous declaration that:

 “The trend has been that mobile was winning. It’s now won.” – Eric Schmidt, 2013

Schmidt recognised the growing influence of mobile phones in society and Google have since adapted their entire business strategy to prioritise mobiles. Google uses an approach they call Mobile First, which acknowledges the shift of focus from desktops to mobiles and pledges to prioritise and maintain products for mobile development. They have put huge emphasis on ensuring that their products are mobile compatible since 2013, even though until 2015 desktops were still the main Internet access point for the UK population.

It is therefore a credit to their foresight that as of 2016, the majority of the UK uses a mobile phone as their main Internet access point. Just 11% of the UK use a desktop as their main Internet access point according to the latest 2017 figures.  Smartphones have become something that people in many industries cannot live without, rather than the luxury product that two huge companies(pre 2010) made the near-fatal assumption they would be. In the first quarter of 2009, a major leader in mobile phones had a market share of 20.6%. Only five years later, in the first quarter of 2014, that same company had a market share of just 0.5%. Another household manufacturer saw its market share drop 10.2% in 2008 to just 2.5% by 2010. These companies have been decimated by a reluctance to adapt to the changing mobile phone market. These companies could’ve done with an Eric Schmidt.

Although such a dramatic whirlwind loss of market share is unlikely to replicated across any other industries, it is a stark reminder of how the fortunes of a company can change, for better or worse. Apple, Google and Samsung put their competitors on the brink of collapse by revolutionising something as simple as the telephone. People in the 1970’s would have been gobsmacked if you were to show them a 2018 smartphone and tell them that this was a future upgrade of their dial-up telephone. Even now, people would still be using flip screen mobile phones but for a greater quality alternative being available.

Here at inCase, we don’t believe the progressive law firms of this era would be surprised to hear that clients increasingly wish to manage their cases on their mobiles. With the ability to send and sign documents, receive push notifications and integrate with nearly all case management systems, inCase is the app to revolutionise your firm.

The importance of self-improvement is paramount to success, whether you are improving personally or improving your business. It is not becoming a successful person or business that is the difficult part, maintaining your success is the real challenge. It takes real perseverance and determination to maintain high quality standards over a sustained period of time. It takes something special to consistently improve on your standards and service. Many consumers choose a brand or product based on its reputation, and that is only earned through consistently being a better option than your competitors. inCase has improved the client satisfaction ratings of ALL of our firms- it’s a no brainer!

66.4% of UK adults own a smartphone, managing their legal affairs on one is the future. Don’t get left behind.

Call now on 0161 410 0800 to book a free demonstration at your offices, at your convenience.