"The New, New Economy"

A few years back, the internet became the new platform for economy. Allowing for faster communication and farther reach, businesses quickly grew to a global level. Nowadays, businesses compete for customers to give the most convenient online experience instead of cultivating a actual relationships with them. However, advances in technologies have forged the way for what Hixon calls “new, new economy”, the platform of which is the smartphone.

With the number of smartphone users growing in the US and across the globe, companies who reach out through smartphone apps now have a new way to access to a large network of consumers. No longer do businesses need to appeal to the comfort of doing business in without leaving home, but the convenience of doing business anywhere and anytime with their smartphones.

With the exception of gaming apps, a business cannot be run with only an app at its front. The internet economy will not die with the emergence of the smartphone economy, however, companies that wish to survive this transition need to adjust to the new platform. For example, the internet changed the banking industry by offering customers access to their accounts and information securely online to make transfers, pay bills, and even deposit checks from their personal customers. Now, customers look for banks that offer these services from any time and any place via mobile devices.

Finally, just as was necessary with the arrival of the internet, survival in the “new, new economy” will depend of the virality of the business. Basically, survival depends on how fast you can get to the top and stay there. Consider the well-known story of the movie rental service Blockbuster and how it fell to its end because its failure to transition its business to the new terrain of the internet. A business that does not want this fate in the transition to the "new, new economy" will take heed and adjust quickly.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddhixon/2012/01/19/going-viral-on-the-mobile-web/