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Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:53 |
The latest annual report from Research and Markets predicts that 2008 will see over 2 trillion text messages sent worldwide with growth continuing - about 2 each per day for every mobile subscriber.
The annual 2008 Global Mobile – Data and Content Markets report finds that the mobile data sector offers enormous potential, reflected by the number of diverse players all vying for this market.
Communications Not Entertainment
Competition is increasing the report notes and there is some evidence that usage of mobile data content and services is starting to grow – albeit slowly. However the most popular mobile data segment of all, SMS, is set to continue its growth in 2008 with estimates that over 2 trillion messages will be sent worldwide. Dividing two trillion messages by about 3 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide, it has been calculated that this equates to about 2 text messages per subscription per day.
The authors say that "This supports our claim that of the various new telecoms technologies and innovations over the last few decades, there can only be one conclusion drawn – the most popular services are usually communications-based – not entertainment, not information, but communications. We expect mobile messaging revenues to account for around $65-75 billion in 2008. However, while mobile messaging traffic volumes will increase, market saturation and increasing competition, which is affecting the mobile industry as a whole, is expected to slightly dampen down overall messaging revenue growth."
Telemetry Success
The other data service in which mobile has been reasonably successful is the telemetry sector. This market is continuing to develop fast with the uptake of telemetry applications by healthcare facilities and the use of RFID based applications in the manufacturing and logistics industries.
Banks and financial services sectors are beginning to pay great interest in mobile commerce, particularly m-payments and m-banking. Developments in contactless payments are continuing and in 2008 there are many trials of mobile payments taking place around the world. Focus has also turned to the developing markets, where mobile phones are being viewed as an opportunity to reach the masses that would not otherwise use m-payment or m-banking services.
Mobile TV Still Hyped
The hype regarding mobile TV continues in 2008. However, the reality is that very few people are prepared to pay the prices that the operators are charging for the service. The current technologies – and, more importantly, its business models – don’t yet stack up. It may be a great engineering achievement, but where is the business model? Mobile video entertainment and communication services however certainly have a bright future – once the appropriate technology is in place.
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