As we have covered before, people value their mobile devices very highly; we value them over our laptops and over out televisions.

To give you some idea of the global magnitude of the mobile marketplace, we have over six billion units in use worldwide by a population of seven billion people. Moreover, with enterprise uses and advertising, the market is enormous. Last year alone, consumers spent more than $20.7 billion shopping using their mobile devices.

In June of this year, International Data Corporation (IDC) held a conference in Hong Kong with the theme, "Cutting through the Mobility Hype". Designed to provide attendees with a clear understanding of the latest developments in mobility, the conference provided a mix of practical, real-world case studies centered around mobile strategy and applications development as well as IDC's analysis on the future of mobility.

Among the many issues discussed, IDC's Asia/Pacific Enterprise Mobility Conference explored emerging workplace trends, including the developing shift to Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD). This BYOD trend is forcing organizations and managers to reflect upon workplace architecture to improve employee productivity and job satisfaction.

The IDC conference identified organizations' real considerations regarding BYOD, mobile security, and next-generation workspaces. The conference also explained key mobile applications and why developers struggle to exploit social media in today's mobile environment.

On a more individual basis, 98 percent of small businesses still do not have mobile-optimized sites. At the same time, 74 percent of consumers are more likely to return to a mobile-friendly site. Clearly, there is a disconnect. Based on the analysis of two million small business websites, this information was recently released in a study by vSplash.

Another study, commissioned by Google, found that three-quarters of visitors to a mobile-friendly site will return to that site, while 79 percent of people who find a site difficult to use on their mobile device will give up and look for another site. The Google study also found that 48% of users say they feel frustrated and annoyed when they get to a site that's not mobile-friendly.

The implications for a growth in business are tremendous. Wise small and medium-size businesses will invest in optimizing sites for mobile visitors.

© Copyright 1998-2012 by The Herman Group of Companies, Inc., all rights reserved.  From 'The Herman Trend Alert,' by Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurist. (800) 227-3566 or www.hermangroup.com

The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group of Companies, Inc. Reprinted with permission.