Leading the charge is Google which attempts to do the heavy computation in the "cloud". Basically turning the mobile phone into a thin-client display device and input device. NASDAQ:GOOG is currently $539.01 a share (all time high was in 7 December 2007 at $714.87). They provide an open mobile platform (Android operating system) and many useful basic applications such as Gmail, Google Maps Navigation, Google Goggles, Google Voice, Google Translate, Google Latitude, YouTube and of course, their search engine.
I'd pin my hopes on Google with their many mobile applications rather than a one trick pony like Facebook which could be made extinct at any moment by a better social networking application (cf: the quick death of MySpace) and the new kid on the block from Google called Google Buzz.
Eric Schmidt said "Now our programmers are doing work on mobile first, and that is in fact a change ... [our] top programmers want to work on those [mobile] apps," he said.
Schmidt predicted that in three years, if not sooner, smartphones would pass global PC sales - "a remarkable achievement".
However, another investment theme could focus on the hardware side. Qualcomm make the Snapdragon ARM processor which seems to be used by many handset manufacturers using the Android platform. Unlike Apple's closed system which uses the Apple A4 chip, I believe because of the openness of Android and with the support of Google, that Android based mobile phones will become dominant in the market eventually when it becomes more idiot friendly and Apple iPhone users start to churn over. NASDAQ:QCOM is currently $39.43 a share (all time high was in 31 December 1999 at $88.06).
Also, the touchscreens are an important component in these mobile phones. Projective Capacitive Touch (PCT) technology is the hot stuff right now.
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