Buying tyres was originally an exclusively face-to-face experience. But it didn’t take long for the role of the telephone to become an integral part of consumer tyre buying research. The latest technological step forward saw the Internet become a sales channel in and of itself, not to mention a vital tool for wholesalers with the right business-to-business e-commerce systems. Now with some sources putting online tyre market share just shy of double figures, could the fast-growing mobile Internet market driven by the latest generations such as the Apple iPhone represent another new sales and marketing territory for tyre companies?

With mobile phone technology accelerating at a rate of knots, and following the recent high profile launch of Apple’s iPhone 4, Tyres & Accessories took the opportunity to survey the two leading online application markets for a glimpse into the future of online tyre selling. Apple’s App Store and its only real competitor, Google’s Android Marketplace boasts tens of thousands a quarter of a million applications between them. These small pieces of software offer users handy utilities, games and – crucially for this market – shortcuts to news, information and shopping services. Well-known online auction site, a system that has been used to market significant numbers of tyres and wheels for years now, has been offering both iPhone and Android versions of shopping platform for sometime now, allowing uses to bid on the move, however so far there have not been too many moves in this market from tyre companies. That said, some of the biggest players in the tyre industry have got in on the act with their own mobile phone applications and here is a brief look at some of the best available today.