Yahoo predicts next ‘mobile revolution’ is around the corner
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer delivers the keynote address Thursday at the Yahoo Mobile Developer Conference in San Francisco.
reporting from SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo might be going through turbulent times, but signs of trouble were momentarily cast aside Thursday when executive Simon Khalaf took the stage at the company’s Mobile Developer Conference to harp about the upcoming mobile revolution.
The specifics? Phablets driving the next hardware refresh and a maturing mobile market supporting more native mobile content.
“Toward the end of 2016, we’re going to see the beginning of mobile 2.0, and that will create another seven years of insane growth,” said Khalaf, Yahoo’s senior vice president of publishing products.
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“If you look at the content you’re consuming on a mobile device, most of it has been made for a desktop, television or print, but it’s been shrunk for mobile,” he continued. “That’s not going to last. A new mobile revolution [will have content] made on a mobile device to be consumed on a mobile device.”
Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer kicked off the conference at San Francisco’s Masonic Center with a keynote address in front of several hundred developers. Mayer stayed mum on her stance on the encryption fight between Apple and the FBI, instead devoting her time to discussing Yahoo’s foray into mobile engagement and native advertising.
How Yahoo plans to make gains on the native mobile content side remains to be seen. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company recently announced it was reducing its workforce by 15% and shuttering seven of its digital magazines, including those dedicated to food, travel, health and parenting topics.
Khalaf indicated that Yahoo is positioning itself to reap the windfall of this next growth period, saying that 2016 is the year of “pause and reflection” while it figures out how to “jump on that bandwagon.”
Twitter: @traceylien
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