Google CEO: Mobile search to eclipse PCs in next few years

Google CEO Eric Schmidt [1] anticipates mobile search revenues will surpass search on the PC within the next several years, "not decades," citing the increasing sophistication and affordability of smartphones as the catalyst behind the paradigm shift. "The fact of the matter is that mobile devices are going to be the majority of the way that people get information," Schmidt said Tuesday during an appearance at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco, InternetNews.com reports. "The argument is relatively simple: You already have them. They're called your phones." Earlier this week, web solutions provider NetApplications reported [2] Google's search dominance on smartphones is now even greater than its lead on the desktop--the web services giant accounted for 97.5 percent of global smartphone searches in February 2009. Yahoo followed with just 2.03 percent, and MSN represented only 0.07 percent.

Schmidt also nodded to the increasing popularity of netbooks, which also pose an increasing threat to the traditional PC business. "What's particularly interesting about netbooks is the price point," he said. "Eventually it will make sense for operators and so forth to subsidize the use of those books so they could make services revenue and advertising revenue on their consumption. That's another new model that's coming."

Schmidt additionally addressed the current economic malaise and warned it could get worse before it gets better. "For the next few quarters, things are going to be very, very tough," he said, noting he does not expect any kind of turnaround prior to 2010. Schmidt noted that while the online ad industry may be better positioned to survive the downturn than other segments of the industry, Google is not immune to the current crisis. "Google management spends most of its time doing business reviews today," he said. "I think the situation is pretty dire. The combination of everything that we have seen does not appear to have a current bottom." In mid-January, Google announced plans [3] to lay off about 100 employees as well as terminate a handful of web and mobile services, including mobile social networking effort Dodgeball.

For more on Schmidt's forecast:
- read this InternetNews.com article [4]

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