Multimedia services to surpass share of SMS in revenues: IDC

According to IDC, a USA-based firm providing market intelligence and advisory services, mobile multimedia services will make up 11 per cent of the total revenue from mobile services in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) at the end of 2009, surpassing SMS revenue contribution for the first time.
The research firm says in a press statement that most mobile devices today have a built-in networking capability such as USB, Bluetooth, or WiFi and this gives mobile users improved access to content.
Last year, contribution of SMS to mobile revenues was 10.3 per cent, while that of multimedia was 10.1 per cent. IDC predicts that SMS contribution will be remain at 10 per cent in the coming years but the contribution from multimedia will be constantly increase.
Alex Chau, senior research manager for IDC’s Asia Pacific mobile and wireless technologies research, comments, “Early drivers of growth in mobile multimedia content have been ringtones and wallpaper downloads, particular with the younger demographics. Today, the emergence of handsets featuring larger screens and even touch-screen interfaces has pushed the uptake of mobile multimedia services to a new level. This has spurred content and application developers to develop tens of thousands of applications to satisfy this new demand amongst mobile users.”
He adds that the next stage of growth will require mobile operators to invest in and upgrade mobile networks in the region in order to handle the mobile packet data traffic growth.
IDC believes that with the foray of competitors such as Apps Stores, the market will become more competitive, which will lead to an eventual price war, benefiting mobile users in APEJ.
IDC is a global provider of market intelligence and advisory services for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology industries. IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. It is a subsidiary of IDG, a leading technology media, research, and events company.