Ad-funded MMS revenues are set to take-off over the next five years, with annual growth rates reaching 94% to deliver revenues of $8.7 billion (5.4 billion) by 2014. Thats the conclusion of new mobile messaging research from Juniper Research, Mobile Messaging & IP Evolution. The study finds that the Far East and China will lead the global ad-funded MMS market by a considerable margin, followed by North America and Western Europe.
The number of brands using MMS as an advertising medium is growing rapidly, says Juniper, with push MMS and SMS being employed to great effect in both mature and emerging markets. Crucially, this has enabled network operators to support ad-funded voice and SMS tariffs, and combat falling ARPU, while providing brands with new advertising channels.
The report also forecasts that the number of mobile email users will climb by 21% to reach 1.1 billion in 2014; and that SMS share of total global P2P (person-to-person) mobile messaging revenues will decline by 18% over the forecast period.
Despite the global economic meltdown, mobile messaging continues to grow significantly, says Steve Reynolds, Chairman of the Mobile Data Association. This report provides valuable intelligence to empower mobile messaging-centric businesses in developing future demand-based commercial strategies.
The report notes the significant influence of social networking and Web 2.0 applications on both operator and vendor strategies. RIM in particular, says Juniper, has broken new ground in the consumer market with the addition of custom-built social networking applications for Facebook and MySpace, plus AOL instant messaging and other applications. For these reasons, Juniper has awarded RIM its Future Mobile Gold Award for Mobile Messaging.
The inclusion of popular messaging and social networking applications has broadened its appeal and ensured the BlackBerry has maintained its position as a compelling mobile messaging device, says report Author and Future Mobile Awards panel judge, Ian Chard.
Other mobile messaging vendors such as Acision, Airwide Solutions and Miyowa were noted for driving significant innovation, but the Silver Award for Mobile Messaging was given to SpinVox, for its Voice-to-Text messaging service.
Mobile Messaging whitepaper and further details of the study Mobile Messaging & IP Evolution: Players, Strategies & Forecasts 2009-2014 can be freely downloaded for free from the Juniper website.