.mobi domain names were launched for the Sunrise period on May 22, 2006 and to the general public on August 28, 2006. When they were launched, their was a 2 year minimum registration period which is just around the corner.
I was not a big investor in .mobi’s when they launched, but I did pick up several 3 letter .mobi’s but have sold them already. I currently only hold 1 (one) .mobi domain which is 3453.mobi (File on a phone).
I do not expect much if any domains that were in the sunrise to expire/drop but when it comes to the general public date of Aug 28, I expect many current owners of the domains to let several expire.
This will be the first Expire/Drop for the .mobi domain, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Everytime a .mobi thread is started at domain forums, they get pretty heated…. It’s been two years since the launch and I have yet to see a commercial on TV for a .mobi (I’m sure some have) and the market has went down since it’s launch IMO. 3 letter .mobi average is around $75 according to 3Character.com which is down -$20 since July 2008. 3 Number .mobi’s (the best I think) are down to $250 which is down -$50 since June 2008.
Here is a current list of .mobi registrar’s and the whois for .mobi
Auction services like SnapNames.com and TDNAM.com have added the extension to their services to ready for these upcoming dates. I checked both and no "expired" domains are currently listed. Pool.com and NameJet.com have Not added the extension to their TLD options and I am not sure if they will or not.
robb
It will be interesting to see if any good .mobi’s drop and get auctioned off at Snapnames, Pool, etc. That will give a good indication of where the .mobi market is at.
As for not seeing much .mobi website promotion, mobile websites still aren’t huge in North America. But as mobile website use develops, I think .mobi will climb right along with it.