… these barcodes will take off in the US.
-Why QR Codes Will Be Big Business in the US, Allen Stern on CenterNetworks in August 2008
See? you don't quite know what this is useful for, do you?
That kind of says it all, doesn’t it? We’ve been hypothesizing about QR codes since 2008. And Stern’s article (from 2008) mentions that QR codes remind the author of a technology he saw first in 2000 that he thought would become big business in the US.
I hate to be the party pooper, but I just don’t see QR codes taking off in the US. For whatever reason (my best guess is the serious lag between the introduction/early excitement about QR codes and smart phone adoption in the US), QR codes have never really taken off, here. And despite all of the talk to the contrary (and article just the other week in Mashable explains how QR codes finally seem to be going mainstream), I doubt seriously that a large enough part of the US population even knows (or cares) what QR codes are.
Now, the biggest hindrance to adoption of QR codes was (at one time) the available technology.
But recent data from Nielsen research predicts that 50% of the US population will be using a smart phone by 2012 – right now that number’s just over 20%. And Comscore shows that there are over 45 million smart phones in use as of April 2010, with a majority of those being Blackberries.
Even with tremendous growth like that, however, many smart phones still don’t come with pre-installed QR readers . What value would a QR code provide that is so immediate or unique that a user would take our their phone and get a QR reader application? Really? Just so I can see an augmented reality advertisement? Dan Neumann at Three Minds takes this position, as well, and calls for the official offing of QR codes as a marketing idea in the US.
However, just a few months ago, trend firm PSFK interviewed Alan Bendetto of JMango, which is a QR Code ‘solutions provider’ – because apparently QR codes are still coming. Big time. At least, according to their trend analysis. And the barcoding.com blog continues to talk QR codes, too. I’ve really got to wonder where this growth is that they’re seeing.
No one I know uses QR codes. For anything. Ever.
I don’t think they’re a bad idea, I just think that QR codes are an idea whose time has passed. If they didn’t catch on in 2008, they’re certainly not going to catch on now. Can we all just call this one and let QR codes slip away into obscurity and get on with the next big idea for mobile? Please?
Tags: 2d barcode, marketing, mobile, QR codes, smart phones, smartphones, usa
I agree that there’s way too much hype about QR, but that doesn’t mean they’ll never play a significant role in a well-planned marketing campaign. We’re in the chicken-and-egg stage regarding 2D code reader software, but Android and Nokia are beginning to include it by default. Apple and HP/Palm will probably follow.
The real problem may be the unwise things people are doing with QR Codes and their related mobile experiences. I think QR will become mainstream, but ill-advised and intrusive campaigns will certainly postpone public acceptance of a promising medium.
Thanks, John, for the insightful comment. I’ll happily eat my words if marketers find useful, fun ways to use QR as part of their campaigns. I’m still quite skeptical. It’s great to know that Android and Nokia come with readers by default, however!