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Mobile Market Insights

Here's some of the latest news, reports and analysis for the Mobile marketplace.

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iPhone 5 - Not Quite

On October 4th millions of Apple fans waited for the announcement of the iPhone 5. However, to their disappointment, the new iPhone 4S was unveiled. Techie disgruntlement aside, the 4S has some interesting features including iOS 5, Siri, 8 MP Camera, iCloud and Twitter integration.

iOS 5 delivers some new features including that Twitter integration, Notification Centre, iMessage (messaging for iOS 5 users), Newsstand, Photo-cropping and PC-free (without a PC, not a freebie!).

Siri is a brand new development. It is a voice-activated intelligent assistant that helps you get things done. It works out the right apps to use to answer the question. For example “Do I need an umbrella?” and it will answer you. Siri can also make calls, send messages, set up meetings and reminders and more!

The 4S does look very similar to the 4 and this may prevent some from upgrading, but with the iPhone 3G not being supported by iOS5 and 3GS customers coming to the end of their 2 year contracts it is a sure-thing that most of these Apple-committed customers will upgrade.

mkodo would also like to mention Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died on the 6th October 2011 after a long battle with cancer. He was only 56 and stepped down as CEO of Apple in January 2011. Over a 35 year period Steve Jobs helped Apple transform personal computing, the mobile industry and instrumental in creating blockbusting animation films. RIP Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011.

Android reach 1m new activations per day

In July 2011 Google announced that the number of global Android devices activated per day was 550,000. Now Michael DeGusta, from The Business Insider predicts that the number could reach as high as one million per day by the end of October 2011. That is an impressive 81% increase of devices activations in around 90 days!

Android is now almost three years old and 1 million activations per day is a very impressive statistic. Conservative estimates put the worldwide figure at 1 million activations per day by December, but this is still striking. This figure also seems to correlate nicely with the growth in Android’s market share, currently sitting at a whopping 54% of connected device and Smartphone Operating Systems. Only Android and Apple’s iOS are increasing their share while other operating systems are in decline.

1 in 10 retail searches on mobile

Mobile devices now account for one in ten retail related searches according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Q3 in 2011 saw a 35% increase in total retail search volumes compared to the same quarter in 2010 and a 168% year on year increase in mobile search volumes.

Stephen Robertson, DG of BRC suggests, “mounting pressures on household budgets may be generating more online retail searches, as people work harder to compare prices and track down value”. He goes on to say, “online retailing is still expanding quickly, compared with selling through stores, and searching from mobile devices is showing the most dramatic increase. Retailers are engaging with, and encouraging, this shift in shopping behaviour by providing more and easier ways to search and shop via smartphones and tablets”.

The figures certainly show a shift in shopping behaviour, due to the economic climate and thirst for bargains. The provision by retailers of other means of purchasing (online and mobile) allows for this growth to happen, but currently only some of the major retailers have a mobile presence for example Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda etc. This growth is likely to continue as smaller retailers create a mobile presence (App, WebApp, web optimisation) allowing more bargain hunting and also brand loyalty.

The major driving sectors for the mobile device purchasing process currently are food and grocery, electricals, books, music, games and video according to a report by Barclays Corporate. They foresee m-commerce reaching £19bn by 2021, it currently sits at £1.35bn for 2011.

However, there is real value in creating opportunity to use m-commerce as an amalgamator for multi channels. The retailer should look to engage with their customers via mobile devices in-store – for example Tesco is launching some wifi hotspots within their stores encouraging mobile device use, although you may well need a Tesco Clubcard to use it.

Amazon Tablet - a rival at last?

The iPad has been the only tablet in town - realistically, for some time. However, things might be about the change, the Amazon tablet Fire runs Android and offers real price competition as just $179 - $199 a pop. It will be on-sale in mid November in the US, more likely 2012 for the UK.

It is a seven-inch tablet running a customised Android OS and offers Amazon content including music, films, TV shows, games, e-books, newspapers, magazines and Apps. It also includes Amazon Instant Video allowing owners to stream or download, purchase or rent or get unlimited access with Amazon Prime subscription service. Amazon’s MP3 store is included – more than 1 million Kindle e-books, graphic novels, magazines etc. The Amazon Android App Store is apparently going to offer a free paid for App every day!

Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, said “Kindle Fire brings together all of the things we’ve been working on at Amazon for over 15 years into a single, fully integrated service for customers”.

mkodo has a new headquarters

mkodo has experienced tremendous growth over the past ten years and has out grown its current office space. To accommodate our current expansion, mkodo has relocated to larger offices.

The new address is 27 Paul Street, London EC2A 4JU.

Indeed, it is not just the space that is growing. We are hiring 2 new staff members – Watch this space for more info!

UK's mobile web usage soars

The Office of National Statistics in the UK recently released figures regarding the growing influence mobile is playing in the digital fight for Internet usage. They claim that 45% of the UK’s internet using population have started to use mobile devices to access online content over the past year (Aug 2010 – Aug 2011). Therefore out of the 37.7 million Internet users in the UK, nearly 17 million used mobile phones to access the Internet. 16-24 year olds are responsible for 71% of this rise in usage, compared to 44% a year ago. The ONS also notes that around six million accessed the Internet for the first time via their mobile.

The ever-increasing market sales of smartphones combined decreasing costs of mobile data usage and Wi-Fi are transforming the way we are consuming the Internet. In fact in the ONS report that Wi-Fi hotspots has doubled within the last year to 4.9 million users, which equates to around 13% of total UK internet users.

What are people doing online on their phones? Social networking is now the key driver of mobile Internet usage, especially among the 16-24 age group. Also the purchasing of goods or services via mobile has increased due to many retailers optimising their websites for these devices.

It is interesting that, although mobile Internet access has been around for a decade, only now is the industry seeing major inroads to the PC’s dominance in this area.

Average spend on UK mobiles on the up, NFC of interest to consumer

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has reported this month in their annual M-Commerce consumer research that over the last year consumers are spending 43% more per mobile transaction. They realised figures of £12.20 per mobile transaction for 2010, but consumers are now spending on average £17.49.

A very interesting figure unveiled in this report by the IAB, is that the number of consumers who hold the opinion that mobile surfing is too expensive has dropped by 16%. The increase in the use of wi-fi at home and wi-fi hotspots in public has helped alter this opinion. There has also been a 7% drop in PC surfing as a preference over mobile surfing.

Commenting on one aspect of the mobile transaction market, IAB’s senior mobile manger Alex Kozlff said: “There is clearly a consumer appetite to use m-commerce in store, so it will be fascinating to see consumer adoption of NFC*, as the technology becomes more commonplace in the UK”.

Indeed, when NFC does become commonplace, mobile spending averages should rocket. Here is a link to an introduction to NFC NFC Introduction for more information on this subject.

Smartphone shipments exceeded featurephones

Q2, 2011 has seen another milestone in mobile: IDC says that shipments of smartphones outstripped those of feature phones for the first time in Western Europe.

Sales of feature phones in developed markets have been in decline for some time already, impacted by high-end devices like the iPhone, and the rush of less expensive smartphones based on Android.

Now IDC says that the long-predicted changeover has happened: in Q2 more smartphones entering the sales channel than feature phones. Shipments of feature devices declined by 29%, while smartphones grew by 48%. That's 52% smartphone and 48% feature phones.

Mobile TV audience numbers set to rise

Mobile streaming video services have been around for a while, but with improved technology, good picture quality and higher data transfer rates they are becoming much more mainstream. *

A report by MarketResearch.com titled “Global Mobile TV Forecast to 2013” dated Sep 1st 2011, says that in recent years the use of mobile TV has risen due to an increase in the number of smartphones that support good picture quality at high data transfer rates. Many broadcasters now have their own native apps as well as a mobile web presence. They can stream television programmes that have been aired on their TV channels and, furthermore, live events, as seen with ITV’s current coverage of the Rugby World Cup.

The report suggests mobile TV rollouts around the world are increasing and will possibly lead to a fall in average TV subscription fees. Mobile TV subscribers are expected to grow globally at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 43% reaching a mobile TV audience of 792.5m by the end of 2014. Not only the improved quality of the products consumed is leading to this rise, but also mobile networks have improved data plans, some offering unlimited data downloads, and the increase of wi-fi “hotspots” in public areas allowing free access to mobile web.

Changing demographics for tablets

Tablet-type devices - whether iPads, Galaxy Tabs, BlackBerry Playbooks or Kindles - are becoming an accepted form for mobile devices.

Nielsen’s latest US quarterly survey of mobile-device owners reveals that the nature of these users in terms of demographics are, as you might expect, changing as the base grows.

According to Nielsen two major shifts are occurring - a larger % of users are older and the % of women owning tablet based devices is also growing rapidly.

What must be remembered is that the percentage movement away from the younger demographic does not reflect an absolute decline in penetration amongst the younger groups. It is more a facet of the significant growth in access amongstthe older segments. e.g. Tablet reach for over 55s grew from 10% to 19% in the last 3 quarters.

App Store wars

Mobile app marketplaces have often been judged by the quality and number of Apps they make available for download. Apple’s iTunes App Store has been the market leader in this area since its launch in 2008. The research firm Ovum has opened up a new metric in the mobile app marketplace regarding the downloading of Apps. The firm is forecasting that, not only will mobile App downloads be up 144% in 2011 compared with 2010, but for the first time App downloads for Android devices will exceed those for Apple iOS devices.

They forecast that Android devices will see 8.1 billion (nearly 500% increase from 2010) App downloads this year, whilst the number for Apple iOS devices will be 6 billion (around 122% increase from 2010).

The reasons for the massive expansion in Android app downloads are:

  • A diverse range of smartphones and tablets use Android OS
  • A variety of manufacturers use Android OS
  • Third party App stores such as Amazon and GetJar vend Android Apps

Ovum forecasts that by 2016 Android will lead iOS in App downloads two to one, 21.8 billion Apps compared to 11.6 billion. Ovum also anticipates that Windows Phone will be third in terms of App downloads by 2015, overtaking Blackberry’s platform in terms of both revenue and total downloads.

Ovum also suggests, however, that the iTunes App Store will continue to dominate paid for Apps.

Perhaps consumers have more faith in the iTunes store when it comes to purchasing due to brand loyalty and brand trust. The fragmentation of Android’s marketplace may, at this stage, have backfired in this regard.

Smartphones are now the primary mobile for 42% of the UK public

According to a report by comScore released at the end July 2011, 42% of the UK now use a smartphone as their primary mobile device. This is up from 27% a year ago. And so within a matter of months more people will be using a smartphone than a 'featurephone' and much of that activity will be on non-call related activity!

There are a number of subsidiary figures within that report that have created a deal of discussion and dispute.

So, Apple has overtaken Symbian to become the top smartphone platform in the UK (with a 27 percent market share). And secondly, Android has shot from nowhere last year to a very close second place - very soon to hit top spot in terms of reach.

Blackberry (RIM) have had a bit of a quibble with comScore's numbers as they have many more active subscribers than have been estimated within the report. However, comScore are listing the primary device and for many users their Blackberry is not their primary device.

Apple's sales figures for Q2 2011

Apple's latest (Q2) profits soared past expectations as sales of the iPhone and iPad products more than doubled.

And we have yet to see what'll happen to figures when the iPhone 5 (or 4G S) is launched - it's expected now towards the end of September.

Net income for Q2 was $7.31bn (£4.6bn) - 125% up year-on-year. Q2 showed record quarterly revenues and profit. Apple sold more than 20 million iPhones in the quarter and 9.25 million iPads - off the back of the iPad2's performance. The only downside was that iPod sales slipped, down by 20% to 7.54 million units.

Other manufacturers aren't looking in such rude health with Nokia's struggles continuing and RIM facing increasing challenges to its position (esp in the US), resulting in the announcement, this week, of 2,000 job cuts.

UK mobile gambling revenues increase substantially

In 2010, UK gambling via mobile more than doubled. A report produced by Californian Research Company IHS Screen Digest states that mobile gambling hit £41 million net revenue, an increase from £19 million in 2009. Senior Analyst and head of mobile at IHS, Ronan De Renesse, said that the full implementation of the 2005 U.K. Gambling Act in 2007 helped change the public perception of mobile gambling by allowing online betting sites to advertise their services on television and radio for the first time. He went on to mention that over the last 12 months there had been a rapid increase in advertising spending from gambling operators creating a positive, respectable perception amongst consumers.

The report also emphasises that the proliferation of smartphones and their rich user environments have helped the mobile gambling market over the last two years. With the launches of 4G and other technological improvements, 2011 should see gambling operators view their mobile strategies as a substantial source of revenue.

HIS expects this trend towards mobile gambling to continue with impressive, glamorous new wave of fast, secure gambling native and web applications.


UK shopping by smartphone increases by 163%
comScore, the global leader in measuring the digital world, has released recent figures (July 2011) reporting that the number of smartphone users in the UK accessing online retail sites has increased 163% since May 2010. Jeremy Copp, comScore Europe Vice President for mobile, states “Over the past year, online retailers enjoyed strong growth in visitation from mobile devices in Europe, largely driven by the acceleration in smartphone ownership… This trend represents both an opportunity and a threat for retailers. While mobile access offers retailers incremental occasions to engage with customers, it also provides customers the ability to easily compare prices at competing retailers while inside a particular retailer’s store. Retailers must get a firm handle on mobile shopping behaviour if they are to effectively navigate this changing environment.”

This trend is not just confined to retail, the figures show that online auction sites and shopping resources have also had a sharp increase in mobile traffic. As Jeremy Copp mentions this is a direct result of more smartphones being sold; it also would suggest that retailers are now creating mobile friendly sites that allow users to find and purchase products more easily. Mobile searches are further boosting this trend to shop on mobile. In the first quarter of 2011 searching for retail information more than trebled according to a study from the Online Retail Monitor (ORM), which is a huge increase in potential shoppers.

Sainsbury's has recently launched their own mobile site so that their customers can engage with them digitally on the move. This is part of Sainsbury’s strategy to become a truly cross channel retailer. It focuses on home and garden, technology, toys and leisure products. Sainsbury's has previously launched apps for Apple and Android, but has found that customer demand for mobile commerce across all platforms and therefore produced this mobile website.

Retailers and other businesses are now debating the merits of app versus mobile web. For a successful mobile strategy a combination of both may well be the right choice.

Android drives growth in smartphone reach

According to figures released this week by Google, Android devices are registering 500,000 activations per day! For those of you without calculators to hand that'd be 3.5 m Android devices activated every week, or 20k per hour, or 347 per min, or 6 per sec.

But, the really interesting figure PR'd was that (as of this week - w/c 27th June) that this is growing at 4.4% per week! So, if true, this would take activations up to 600k every day by the end of next month. It would be an extraordinary stat.

What the figures don't say are how many device are 'de-activated'. What does an activation mean? Is it a new device sale? Do they decrement devices being 'inactive' for a period? Is an activation a new OS install? etc. etc.

These are all valid questions when gauging the true scope of Android's reach in the near future. However, it would be churlish to suggest that the 500k per day is anything other than a fabulous performance for Android and one that augurs well for the battle ahead this autumn if, as many pundits expect, the iPhone 5 (and/or 4GS) is, or are, released in September.

Mobile Banking on Smartphones up 40 per cent in Europe

The number of European smartphone users engaged in mobile banking has risen by 40 per cent since August 2010, according to the latest figures from comScore’s MobiLens service, Mobile Marketing Magazine reports…

‘The comScore figures reveal that 20m mobile users across the five leading European markets (UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy), representing 8.5 per cent of mobile subscribers in these markets, accessed their bank account via a mobile phone in March 2011. Smartphone users accounted for 70 per cent of the mobile banking market in Europe in March 2011. Among all phone users, there has been a 15.4 per cent rise in mobile banking in Europe since August 2010.

During the 3-month period ending March 2011, France boasted the highest penetration of mobile bankers in the EU5, with 10.3 per cent of consumers accessing bank accounts through their mobile phones. Spain ranked a close second with 10.2 per cent penetration, with the UK in third on 8.6 per cent, and Italy in fourth on 7.5 per cent. Germany, which is the largest smartphone market in Europe, had the lowest penetration of mobile banking users, with 6.8 per cent accessing their bank accounts. In the EU5 region, 8.5 per cent of mobile subscribers overall accessed mobile banking, whilst 5.1 per cent accessed credit cards and 5.2 per cent accessed electronic payments via their mobile device.

In the EU5 countries, nearly two males accessed mobile banking for every one female. Among age segments, 25-34 year olds accounted for the highest percentage of mobile banking users (27.9 per cent), and were also the highest indexing segment (index of 161). Mobile users aged 55 and older showed the lowest relative usage of mobile banking, with an index of 56.

Perhaps not surprisingly, smartphone users accounted for nearly 70 per cent of mobile banking users, despite accounting for just 35 per cent of the total mobile population. Apple users exhibited the highest relative usage of mobile banking (index of 393), followed by Android users (index of 245).’

Click here for the Mobile Marketing Magazine article.

Google Mobile Wallet set to launch

Retail Technology reported on 26 May 2011 that Citi, Mastercard, First Data and Sprint have teamed up with web giant in the US to turn smartphones into wallets….

‘At an event today, Google demonstrated Google Wallet, an app that it is touting will turn smartphones into wallets so consumers can tap, pay and save money and time while they shop.

For businesses, Google and its partners, Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint, said Google Wallet is an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships by offering a faster, easier shopping experience with relevant deals, promotions and loyalty rewards.

“Today, we’ve joined with leaders in the industry to build the next generation of mobile commerce,” said Stephanie Tilenius, Google commerce and payments vice president. “With Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint we’re building an open commerce ecosystem that for the first time will make it possible for you to pay with an NFC [near field communication] wallet and redeem consumer promotions all in one tap, while shopping offline.”

Google Wallet is currently in a field test and will be available to consumers this summer. At the event, Google, Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint introduced Google Wallet and invited additional issuing banks, payment networks, mobile carriers, handset manufacturers, point of sale systems companies and merchants to join the initiative.’

Article continues here

Mobile search helping to drive retail

The number of consumers searching for retail information on mobile devices more than trebled in the first quarter of 2011, according a study from the Online Retail Monitor (ORM), Google and The British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The study measures the growth of online retail searches by counting the retail related search terms consumers put into Google. The report will be published quarterly to complement the BRC’s high street figures.

Mobile retail search traffic, including smartphone and tablet devices, increased 181% in the first three months of the year compared to the same period last year and accounts for 11% of all retail searches. Total retail search volumes increased 29% during the period.

Growth was driven by multi-channel retailers who recorded a 42% increase in searches compared to online only retailers which reported 19% increase, demonstrating the value of multi-channel offer.

Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC, says: “A 29% increase in retail searches in a year is a huge increase in potential shoppers. The rise of mobile use to one in ten searches sends a valuable message to any forward-thinking retailer that doesn’t yet have an m-commerce platform.”

IAB & MMA and new mobile web measurements

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and the Media Rating Council (MRC) have partnered to create the first standardised key metrics to measure advertising on the mobile device.

Providing accurate measurement is, and will be, a key requirement for brands in any assessment of value of advertising and spend – and the mobile environment is no different from any other in this respect. The creation and definition of a common method to count and report on mobile web ad impressions is key.

“The ‘Mobile Web Advertising Measurement Guidelines’ will help marketers accurately assess the delivery of ads within mobile websites and offer a clear way to count ad impressions, assuring them that their advertising messages are reaching mobile consumers ,” said Anna Bager, Vice President and General Manager of the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence.

The future of the mobile app store

Since launching back in the summer of 2008 and creating huge hype in 2009 app stores’ growth has been impressive. 2010 proved that downloads from Apps stores are big business reaching an estimated 8.2 billion applications downloaded worldwide. In 2011 Gartner have forecast that application downloads will reach 17.7 billion a 117% increase from 2010.

The consumer desire for applications continues and, in 2010, alternatives to the all mighty Apple App store have emerged. The major competitors include Android Market, Samsung Apps, Nokia’s Ovi store, RIM’s Apps World and Microsoft Marketplace. These alternatives will continue to drive competition, downloads and revenue throughout 2011 and continue to in the coming years. However, Apple’s App store will remain the major player in the market for the foreseeable future.

The type of app downloaded is strikingly one-sided. According to Gartner, 81% of the downloaded apps in 2010 were free. This proportion has decreased since 2008 – a trend we expect to continue as consumers’ confidence in mobile billing increases and apps themselves becoming more mature, personal and functional.

Gartner have forecast that in 2011 application store revenue will surpass $15.1 billion through paid-for apps (mobile and tablet) and advertising. This is a 190% increase on the 2010’s $5.2 billion. By 2014 they forecast that growth would be 1000% of the 2010 figure to reach $58 billion.

News from Mobile World Congress

The world of mobile devices is a vibrant, thriving market. Here's a short roundup of some of the latest news...Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Android.....

1. Nokia has adopted Microsoft's Windows 7 OS as its smartphone operating system.

Nokia won't abandon its own platform Symbian just yet - it needs it to continue as a strong platform in the interim period before Windows 7 is up and running. According to Computerworld, with its new strategy, Nokia is hoping to put an end to a downward spiral that started in 2007, the year in which the first version of Apple's iPhone arrived and Google announced Android. At the time, Nokia's smartphone market share was almost 50 percent for the full year, compared to Apple's 2.7 percent, according to Gartner. The first Android-based phone still hadn't arrived. But by the fourth quarter of 2010, Nokia's market share had dropped to 30.8 percent, Android had caught up and Apple had increased its market share to 16 percent.

2. Samsung updates Galaxy S tablet devices

Samsung has announced two additions to its Android device portfolio, with an update to its Galaxy S flagship smartphone and a new tablet device that is closer in positioning to Apple’s iPad than Samsung’s existing Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy S II has a bigger screen, is more slimline, has a dual-core processor, supports NFC (Near Field Communications) and runs the latest Andriod Gingerbread platform.

According to Mobile Business Briefing, Samsung sold more than 10 million Galaxy S devices before the end of 2010 after its launch in the June, making the company something of a standard bearer for Android. During 2010 the company ended its support for the Symbian OS smartphone platform, but it also currently offers devices powered by its own Bada platform and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7. Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Tab 10.1, with the figures referring to the screen size, which is the vendors second product in this market, following the 7”-screen Galaxy Tab. The new device is based on the Honeycomb version of the Android platform, which is designed specifically for tablets.

3. Sony Ericsson announces its "PlayStation phone"

Sony Ericsson unveiled the much-expected Xperia Play (Feb 2011) – aka the “PlayStation phone” - ahead of its launch next month in selected European and Asian markets. A CDMA version of the new handset will go on sale in the US with Verizon Wireless in the spring, a major boost for Sony Ericsson in the States.

According to Mobile Business Briefing, there will be 50 games titles available, mostly in the Android Market, for its appearance next month. About 15 developers are working on games, including Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Glu Mobile. The Xperia Play is the first PlayStation-certified handset. Sony announced its certification programme for Android handset vendors last month which means other vendors can compete against Sony Ericsson with PlayStation-certified devices.

4. 300,000 Android devices per week

Speaking during a keynote address at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (February 2011), Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, said Google was activating more than 300,000 Android devices a week and there are 170 devices using the operating system on the market.Schmidt also cited research claiming that smartphones sales have already exceeded PC sales, sooner than expected. (NMA)

5. 3D phones

There were a number of 3D devices being shown-off in Barcelona, most notably by LG. There are substantial expectations that cross-media users will begin to consume in 3D on a much wider scale through the next couple of years. The 3D camera and video on the LG devices were good but did require specific 'handling' by the end user in terms of how far to hold the device away from the eyes and angle in order to represent 3D imagery to its maximum effect. It may take a while before this becomes mass market on mobile.

Apple launches App store subscription model

Apple has rolled out a subscription model on its App Store, allowing publishers to charge consumers for weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly access to their content....Mobile Entertainment's Stuart O'Brien reports...

The model made its debut with News Corp's The Daily app earlier this month, but is now available to all App Store content providers. Customers can review and manage all of their subscriptions from their personal account page, including cancelling the automatic renewal of a subscription. Apple processes all payments, keeping the same 30 per cent share that it does today for other In-App purchases.

Crucially, Apple says publishers can sell digital subscriptions on their web sites, or can choose to provide free access to existing subscribers. If they do this, publishers must provide their own authentication process inside the App for subscribers that have signed up outside of the app. Since Apple is not involved in these transactions, it will take no revenue share. However, Apple says that if a publisher chooses to sell a digital subscription outside of the App, that same subscription offer must be made available, at the same price or less, from within the App. In addition, publishers will no longer be able to provide links in their Apps that allow the customer to purchase content or subscriptions outside of the App.

There are also some rules regarding CRM. Customers purchasing a subscription through the App Store will be given the option of providing the publisher with their name, email address and postcode when they subscribe. However, the use of such information will be governed by the publisher’s privacy policy rather than Apple’s. Apple adds: "Publishers may seek additional information from App Store customers provided those customers are given a clear choice, and are informed that any additional information will be handled under the publisher’s privacy policy rather than Apple’s."

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said: “Our philosophy is simple - when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 per cent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 per cent and Apple earns nothing.

“All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app.

"We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers.”

Vodafone breaks data and text records this Christmas

Smartphones have been the big noise for 2010 and this has been wholly backed-up by stats released by Vodafone about their mobile traffic over Christmas.

The demand for data on Vodafone’s network on Christmas Day was 70% up on 2009. Guy Laurence, CEO Vodafone UK, said, “Christmas Day has proved that 2010 was the year of the smartphone.”

And it wasn’t just mobile web traffic that boomed. Even SMS, which is often thought of as a mature market, increased traffic volumes on Voda by 27% on Christmas Day (from 2009).

“The tremendous rise in data usage and texting on Christmas Day proves how people are increasingly turning to their mobile phones to stay in touch with friends and family during the festive season…” said Guy Laurence. “… whether they are updating their social networking profiles to send best wishes to their friends: uploading photos to the web so they can share them with family; or sending a text, people are embracing the power of mobile phones.”

One factor that might explain such a substantial rise could be that many people received smartphones or other such devices as gifts and were ‘taking them for a spin’ on Christmas Day.

eBay breaks Mobile shopping records

Mobile was a stand-out performer for eBay over the Christmas period. eBay has reported that its sale of goods through the eBay mobile application has tripled since last year, with 1.5 million items being bought by mobile users.

  • 20 m purchases on eBay this Christmas. That means that 7.5% of all eBay sales this Christmas were mobile sales.
  • Mobile transactions on eBay amounted to more than half a billion $.
  • eBay’s mobile apps generate 750k unique visits each day.
  • Customers are prepared to buy big on mobile, just as they are online – a $75,000 car being one of the larger individual purchases
  • Through Dec, eBay mobile saw global mobile sales increase by 166% over 2009

Facebook expands mobile marketing with new voucher service

MobiAd News reports that Facebook has taken another step towards promoting mobile marketing with the launch of Facebook Deals.

This new service allows brands and merchants to offer money off vouchers and coupons to users of Facebook Places who check in to merchants’ locations.

According to the Facebook blog, “We launched Places to let you share where you are with your friends and see who’s nearby. Now with Deals, you also can see what offers are nearby and share those deals with your friends.”

Facebook Deals is quite easy to use. Consumers simply go to “Places”, then “Check in”, and they see a list of nearby Places that are offering special deals (indicated by the yellow flag). Several major brands are supporting the launch with Gap giving away 10,000 pairs of jeans to the first people to check-in to a Gap Store via Facebook deals, and McDonald’s donating a dollar to charity for every check in. Other brands offering deals include H&M, Chipotle, Macy’s and Starbucks.

Mobile Operators believe coupons will dominate mobile marketing

Analyst house mobileSQUARED recently conducted a survey with 31 mobile operators across East and Western Europe, N. America and Asia-Pac. 61 per cent of those questioned thought that coupons or vouchers would become the dominant form of mobile marketing by 2015. 58 per cent predicted that SMS- and MMS-based messaging would be the second most widely accepted form of mobile advertising in the next five years, followed by search (45 per cent). Owing to the close link between coupons and vouchers and messaging, with messaging acting as a core distribution channel in the majority of cases, it is understandable why both categories attracted a similarly high response from the operators surveyed…

More details of the report are available in Mobile Marketing Magazine

Microsoft launch Windows Phone 7 platform

Microsoft launched their new platform Windows Phone 7 this week. The UK launch for devices is set for 21st October and early November for the US launch. Windows Phone 7 is a success for Microsoft in that it shows the company looking to punch-its-weight in the smartphone ring.

There was the announcement of a massive supporting ad campaign as you might expect and although there was no ground-breaking news on Windows Phone 7 Apps we're sure to see breaking stories in this over the coming days and weeks.

Initially there will be 10 devices using WP7 platform across 60 carriers in 30 territories with more devices to roll out later. Andy Lees, the man in charge of Microsoft's mobile phone division, called the system "a new beginning", with his team building a new OS and UI in just 18 month.

The user interface is definably different from its rivals and contains notable enhancements such as the deep integration of Facebook and a launch partnership with EA games.

Will it work, well yes it might. Apple's position is still very much high-end of the cost-spectrum whereas the open-source Android OS, whilst appealing to the more tech minded, leaves much of its functionality 'left at home' when it comes to man-in-the-street usage.


Mobile Industry looks to safeguard future of location-based marketing

In a recent survey, compiled by the IAB and FlyResearch, 70% of respondents say information they received was more relevant because they shared their location.

Mobile is the perfect channel for location-based marketing, or LBM, so having a clear view on the rules and regulations governing this area is very important to companies like us and our clients.

Fortunately industry bodies such as the DMA, the IAB and IPA are looking to put in place solid LBM guidelines, as Ronan Shields at New Media Age reports.


Blackberry launch the Playbook tablet device

RIM has launched a new 7-inch tablet called the BlackBerry PlayBook. The new device was unveiled at Research In Motion's annual BlackBerry Developers’ Conference. "The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised web browsing and high performance multimedia" said the RIM spokesperson.

This, seemingly, implicit nod towards gaming signifies a slight change in focus as RIM has traditionally been strong in the enterprise sector with the iconic keyboard-equipped BlackBerry smartphones.

RIM also made much of the device handling Flash content as well as Adobe AIR applications, in contrast to Apple's iPad.

The PlayBook specs show a dual core 1GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 7-inch 1024 x 600 display with full OpenGL compatibility. The PlayBook is capable of outputing full HD 1080p video.

The PlayBook's smaller 7-inch screen has a few less horizontal pixels at 600 vs the iPad's 768 and the device shaves off another 2-inches in horizontal and vertical measurements. The PlayBook also clocks in at 400 grams which is over 40 per cent lighter than the iPad's hefty 700 grams.

RIM didn't confirm a launch date for the PlayBook other than "early 2011" however it did say that 3G and 4G-equipped versions would be coming

Click here to see the Playbook YouTube demo advert.


UK online gambling growing faster than Facebook

Online gambling sites in the UK added 3.2 million people as visitors to their online sites last year. This is a 40% uplift on 2009. Indeed that exceeds the rate of growth for social networking sites such as Facebook, according to data released this week by the market research company Nielson.

UK lottery giant Camelot topped Nielsen’s chart of the fastest-growing companies online, increasing unique visitors by 4.4m to 9.4m between July 2009 and July 2010. PartyGaming came in 8th on the list, increasing its customer base for PartyPoker and PartyCasino to 1.9m from 1.2m (or 186%) in 2009.

Nielsen said nearly half of all online gamblers earned more than £30,000 pa from their day jobs and women represented 46% of online gamblers.

Neil Beston of Nielsen said: "While the phenomenal growth in gambling sites over the last two years has been driven by men and women of all ages, it appears to be powered particularly by middle-aged men, the well-educated and high-earning households."

This content is provided by EGRmagazine.com.


Mobile Marketing set for growth in UK

The UK mobile advertising market looks set to finally come of age, with total revenues growing from £27.47 million this year, to £258.27 million by 2015, according to the latest data released by mobileSQUARED. The UK remains the largest mobile advertising market in Europe.

In 2010, the mobile banner ad market will be worth £12.96 million, with search worth £9.86 million. Search will account for 36% of mobile advertising spend in 2010, rising to 45% in 2015. In 2012, mobile search will overtake mobile banner spend and become the largest contributor of the UK mobile advertising market.

"We've been forecasting 'explosive growth' since 2006 for the mobile advertising industry on the back of the hype surrounding the potential of the medium, only to revise our numbers downwards because the revenues failed to materialise," said Nick Lane, chief strategy analyst at mobileSQUARED. "As the hype is now replaced by reality, the UK mobile advertising market finally has a firm footing on which to develop and evolve."

The mobile channel as a means to communicate with the UK consumer is maturing, with the mobileSQUARED Knowledge Centre forecasting smartphone penetration of 23.9% in 2010, with mobile internet penetration of 24.6%. mobileSQUARED also forecasts the mobile messaging ad market will be worth £2.93 million this year, and will experience growth of almost 2,000% during the forecast period, to £60.99 million.

"Mobile advertising is gradually evolving beyond traditional online display model," continues Lane. "The emergence of opt-in messaging ad revenues by 2015 is a reflection of the fact that the average mobile user has their device with them 16 hours per day and 95% of SMSes are read within 3 minutes of being sent. Brands and businesses are waking up to this highly responsive channel."


Mobile lotteries in emerging markets dominate short term growth while deregulation of remote gambling will also play a key part in future expansion

A new report published this month by Juniper Research has found that a combination of mobile casino, lottery and betting service launches in major emerging markets led by China and the liberalisation of remote gambling legislation across the US and Europe will see the scale of annual wagers on mobile gaming exceed $48bn by 2015.

The report studies gambling services on a country-by-country basis. It finds that, in recent years, the Japan Racing Association's iPAT service had been responsible for the bulk of global mobile gambling transactions, with casino/betting services in the UK accounting for much of the remainder. However, the sharp surge in adoption of a mobile lottery service will help propel China into third place in terms of mobile gambling transactions.

Meanwhile, the US market is also poised to see the introduction of its first mobile lottery services. According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, "State lottery providers are anxious to explore new distribution channels, with US lottery sales from traditional outlets in decline. The upshot is that several lotteries are in the latter stages of discussion with mobile technology providers with a view to launching mobile lottery services in 2011." In addition, the report observes that impending legislative changes in the US may herald an opportunity for mobile casino operators in the medium term.

Other findings from the Mobile Gambling Markets report include:

• End-users have eschewed multiplayer mobile gambling apps, preferring to multitask while playing "snacking" applications

• While Apple has begun to permit gambling apps to be sold via the App Store, the majority of service providers are opting for a browser-based approach

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

Click here for details on the full report from Juniper Research.


BBC launches News iPhone App in UK and tops 560,000 downloads in first week

A BBC News application for the iPhone and iPad has been launched in the UK. The free app, which was first unveiled in February, went live in Apple's App Store on Friday 23 July 2010 after getting final approval from the BBC Trust. Since then it was downloaded over 560,000 times and been rated by 2,300 people, with an average score of three out of five stars, reported Broadcast Now on 30 July 2010.

The BBC News app will become available on Blackberry and Android mobile devices shortly, with the BBC Sport app coming soon to iPhone and iPad.

Earlier in 2010, the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) said it feared the corporation would "damage the nascent market" for apps by entering the market with a free product. "The concern the newspaper industry has is that the survival of our big independent news organisations largely depends on them being able to make money from new platforms other than print," said Dominic Ponsford, editor of Press Gazette. "Mobile is a massive part of that and there is concern that the BBC could blow their fledgling apps out of the water by being such a dominant brand."

However the apps market was a space that the BBC could not ignore either, he added. "The other side of it is that the BBC is also doomed unless it can embrace new readers on new platforms."

BBC Trustee Diane Coyle, said: "The Apps market is rapidly taking off as more people choose to get their news, sport and other online content while they're on the move.

"The Trust has a duty to represent the interests of licence fee payers, who will increasingly expect to access BBC content in this way, but also to listen to concerns raised by industry. In this case we have concluded that while the Apps market is developing quickly and we will monitor the launch of BBC Apps, a PVT (Public Value Test) is not required."


The secret of Amazon’s $1 billion sales via mobile

Amazon announced that its revenue from mobile sales has passed $1 billion per year – most of this revenue comes through smartphone devices.

CEO Jeff Bezos said: " In the last twelve months, customers around the world have ordered more than $1 billion of products from Amazon using a mobile device. The leading mobile commerce device today is the smartphone, but we're excited by the potential of the new category of wireless tablet computers.."

This is the first time Amazon has explicitly stated what portion of its revenue was earned from mobile.

The secrets of success? Amazon has a) made applications that are as easy to use as its online website widely available across the breadth of major smartphone platforms and b) they have carried through the fast and trusted 1-Click payment system from the online to the mobile site.

Amazon has also built other mobile technologies into its applications that make sense for its customers. You can, for example, scan barcodes using the application, and Amazon will recognise and search for that product – so if you see something that catches your fancy during the day, you can capture it with your phone and buy it over Amazon.

Amazon realised early on that if your mobile app isn’t as easy to use as your website, you won’t see a lot of use. So it took the 1-Click payment system from the main site and made sure it worked in the mobile application. That way, once you’ve set up your account, you can make an order over your mobile just as easily as you can on the Amazon website. In fact, 1-Click is such a successful system that Amazon has been selling it to other mobile retailers through Amazon Payments.

This is a fantastic validation of mobile commerce and mobile sales. By creating a well-designed application that combines ease-of-use with trust, Amazon has racked up impressive sales by mobile.


AdMob release mobile ad stats for Feb

AdMob has published its February set of mobile advertising metrics, which show strong growth in smartphone ad requests on its network from iPhone and Android handsets.

The iPhone increased its share of smartphone requests from 33% last February to 50% this February. In the same period, Android grew from 2% to 24%. With Android growing someone need to be the loser, %-wise, and it looks as though it’s Symbian down from 43% in 2009 to 18% in 2010.

It’s no surprise that smartphones have increased their share of mobile ad requests, worldwide up to 48% now. Interestingly, access through non-phone devices (iPod touch, PSP, DSi., etc) is now up to 17% of traffic

In terms of the UK, the iPhone and iPod Touch are number 1 and 2 by some distance accounting for nearly 70% of all requests between them. Two of the next 3 most successful devices, by Admob’s count, are HTC androids but we are still talking only 2.5% of overall market for the HTC Hero at No. 3

The full February 2010 AdMob Metrics report can be read here.


MX Telecom acquired by Amdocs for $104m

Amdocs, owner of US messaging aggregator OpenMarket, announced, at CTIA this week, that it has acquired the UK’s leading messaging aggregator MX Telecom Ltd. for approximately $104 million USD

MX Telecom will become part of Amdocs' OpenMarket, a business of Amdocs that operates a market leading mobile transaction hub. The acquisition accelerates OpenMarket's plans for global expansion into key markets. The joint OpenMarket MX Telecom business will provide a hosted platform to extend mobile payment and messaging capabilities through an integrated network and product portfolio.

Alex Moir, Managing Director of MX Telecom, stated, "We are delighted to be joining forces with OpenMarket. OpenMarket's mobile payments platform is highly synergistic with MX Telecom. This acquisition will enable the combined organization to better serve our customers and accelerate our global growth plans. Our employees are proud of what MX Telecom has accomplished, and we look forward to continuing to shape the industry as part of the OpenMarket team."

Amdocs generated almost three billion dollars in revenue last year with net income of c $326m. In the current climate $104m is an excellent number for MX’s founders and the acquisition is also a good match with OpenMarket’s US reach.

MX's full Press Release


UK Messaging Data for 2009 from Mobile Data Association (MDA)

Yet another record year as MDA reveals UK sends 11 million text messages an hour in its latest messaging report. The continued growth of messaging is highlighted by a 2009 daily average of 265 million text messages and 1.6 million picture messages.

Total number of text messages (SMS) sent in:

-2009 total 96.8 billion (23% increase on 2008)
-2008 total 78.9 billion (39% increase on 2007)
-2007 total 56.9 billion (36% increase on 2006)

Total number of picture messages (MMS) sent in:

-2009 total 601 million (9% increase on 2008)
-2008 total 553 million (23% increase on 2007)
-2007 total 449 million (34% increase on 2006)

Seasonal drivers still appear to propel the use of Picture Messaging, with 4.5 million picture messages being sent on Christmas Day itself, while Network Operators’ figures also indicated an upturn in picture messaging during the recent cold snap.

Text messaging traffic over the recent festive period continued to rise proportionately.

Christmas Day 2009: 441,805, 870 (31% increase on 2008)
New Years Eve/Day 2009/10: 874,033,799 (21% increase on 2008)



O2 to launch O2 More - mobile ad service with customer rewards

2 Dec - O2 has signed up 50 brands, including Adidas, Cadbury and Blockbuster, to back the service, which will offer personalised ads and discounts to each customer.

O2 More is optional for subscribers and will allow O2 to match lifestyle and preference data with personal info it already holds on its customers.

This, along with phone use and location data will then allow brands to make targeted offers to specific customers.

O2 customers will be asked to sign up for the service online and will receive up to one SMS per day based on their preferences.

Shaun Gregory, the managing director of O2 Media, said: Mobile advertising has been slow to deliver on its promise ... O2 More is about to change all that and will spearhead the UK’s first truly personalised media business.


BBC figures show reach of iPlayer through mobile

BBC data has shown, according to a report in Revolution this month, that Almost as many people are accessing television via their iPhone or PlayStation 3 as via a Mac computer.

The vast majority of television requests came from PCs, with 76% of television watched in this way during October.

The BBC figures also showed that

  • 7% were requested from an iPhone or an iTouch device
  • 7% from a Mac
  • 6% from a PlayStation 3
  • 2% were via Wii or other mobile devices

The figures showed that October was a record month for the iPlayer, with 53.2 million requests for TV programmes, the highest figure to date. Radio requests remained steady at 26.1 million.

Release of the figures has led to rumours that the BBC is developing an iPlayer application for the iPhone. The internet is rife with stories after a mock up of what the app might look like featured in the presentation. Tech website electricpig.co.uk was first to report on the picture, showing the iPlayer application being used on an iPhone with a WiFi connection.

A spokesman for the BBC said that the image was only a mock up and was not intended for external usage.

Owners of iPhones have been able to use iPlayer by visiting the site via internet browser since the summer of 2008, though it only works via Wifi and not through a 3G connection, while in June this year an iPlayer app was introduced for a range of Nokia smartphones.


Twitter Driving Mobile Web Use, says Novarra

Micro-blogging sites such as Twitter are introducing new consumers to the mobile web, and significant usage. So says Novarra. The company says that mobile page views of bit.ly and tinyurl.com shortened URL services regularly used in tweets, have grown by 1068% to date in 2009. The growth supports the findings of Novarra’s latest (October 2009) Mobile Internet Experience Update, which notes that page views of Twitter grew 3500% in the first half of 2009. Tiny URLs and bit.ly links are often used to share online content via Twitter and other micro-blogging services because the shortened web links fit easily into 140 character SMS messages.

Novarra’s data indicates that neither bit.ly or tinyurl.com were in the top 1,000 sites accessed on the mobile at the start of 2009, but the tenfold growth this year has seen them skyrocket in the rankings. UK mobile users lead the way, with tinyurl.com now ranking in the top 200 sites accessed last month.


Consumers Would Text Their Doctor

Lightspeed Research has released the results of a survey of 1,000 UK consumers that indicates that many patients would like their mobile phone to play an integral role in their healthcare. The study found that:

- one in five would like to make an appointment with their doctor by SMS

- 52% said they would like to receive appointment reminders

- 43% would like to be sent routine tests and screening reminders by text message

- 23% would like to be able to receive test results by text and

- 31% would like to be able to request a repeat prescription by text.

Mark Gibson, mkodo’s business development manager, said “This research shows the familiarity with SMS as a communications medium across demographics. It also highlights that people really do view ‘texting’ as a normal and regular way for communicating with everyone – friends, family, clubs, schools, shops and their doctor. With clubs, membership groups and for appointments SMS has value for both sides. For the consumer, it’s an aide-memoire and a means to use their time more efficiently – less waiting or chasing with calls to busy desk-staff. For the Organisation, it’s a means of releasing staff to work more effectively, proactively arranging appointments and, then, as a way to ensure that no-shows for appointments are kept to a minimum”.


UK iPhone Statistics
O2 have sold 1.5 million iPhones in the UK to date. With the announcement last week that Vodafone and Orange have now agreed deals with Apple to distribute handsets penetration should significantly increase in 2010. A recent report by leading digital data intelligence providers comScore provides key information on the behaviour and demographics of iPhone users in the UK:

• 1.5 Million handsets sold to date in the UK

• 75% of iPhone users are men and mostly aged between 18-44

• 93% of iPhone users have used data services

• 37% of iPhone users have downloaded a game


(source: comScore Mobile)

To discuss iPhone application development with mkodo please call Mark or Tamara on +44 020 7729 4545 or e-mail sales@mkodo.com


Tips for Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is a key part of many media campaigns now. Mobile channels offer an engaging experience for consumers. The ability and flexibility of mobile to allow immediate consumer response provides brands with means to involve themselves with their audiences delivering contextually appropriate content and information. Mobile is a channel to embrace when considering the challenges more traditional marketing channels are experiencing.

Creating a successful a mobile campaign should consider the following at least:

1) Phones Are Personal: Mobile phones connect us to our worlds and they are always with us (well almost always). Make your mobile strategy easy to access, relevant and personal. Handsets with icon-based links to mobile sites, social networks on deck, interesting apps and videos have all become the norm.

2) People like ‘Stuff’: Offer incentives such vouchers, coupons, access to relevant information (weather, news alerts, local event information, etc.), mobile content, bogofs, to assess take-up rates.

3) Make it Fun and Useful: Mobile is tool as well as a way to access entertainment. Mobile calls-to-action should provide communication of the value and also of a reason to participate NOW. It should do this and provide relevant and valued content.

4) Take A Pic: People are using their phones to capture real-time events happening in everyday life. Encouraging citizen journalism is becoming de rigeur for many UK media owners. People take, store, share and save rich content on and with their handsets. This is a great opportunity for community-building and engaging users to participate and share.

5) Cross-promote: Mobile works best when tied together with other media like TV, print, radio and live events. Promote your mobile pages like you would your web and use quick response codes, barcodes to drive response. Use your SMS campaign to drive your mobile internet site to drive UGC content to your web site, and so on.

Consumers are embracing Mobile Marketing
The research showed that mobile is an ‘always and everywhere’ medium with ...

-74% of respondents claiming to never turn off their mobile
-92% stating that they never leave the house without their phone and
-75% of UK users agreed with the statement that mobile is the most personal device they own.

Mobile advertising is increasingly seen as part of the mobile landscape ...

- 54% of respondents find mobile an easy channel to communicate and interact with
- these people would send interesting brand-offers they have received to their friends and family
- for 74% of UK users, incentives are the strongest driver and even more so for youngsters with 84% having a positive attitude towards mobile advertising if it is incentivised
- 57% of UK users (67% for 16-24 year olds) would rather receive advertising on their mobile phone than online if they are offered something in return

For more details follow this link to IAB

Portio Research - Mobile Messaging Futures 2009-2013

-Mobile messaging generated revenues of $130 billion worldwide in 2008, and this figure is set to rise to a market value of $224 billion by full year 2013
-SMS has generated revenues of $89 billion in 2008 and it will become a $100 billion business by 2010
-The world has seen traffic of almost 3.5 trillion SMS messages in 2008 and it will reach almost 5 trillion messages in FY 2011.

For more details follow this link to Portio Research

UK Messaging Data from Mobile Data Association
February 2009

Text Messaging (SMS)
Total number of text messages (SMS) sent in:
2008 total 78.9 billion 38.66% increase on previous year
2007 total 56.9 billion 36.12% increase on previous year
2006 total 41.8 billion.

Video and Picture messages (MMS)
Total number of picture messages (MMS) sent in:
2008 total 553 million 23.16% increase on previous year
2007 total 449 million 33.63% increase on previous year
2006 total 336 million.

Mobile Internet (MI) users
December 08 17.38 million
November 08 16.70 million.

For more details follow this link to MDA

Portio Research - Mobile Entertainment Futures 2009-2013
February 2009

-In 2008, mobile entertainment services (including mobile music, mobile games and mobile video services) generated worldwide revenues of nearly USD 24 billion and this figure is set to rise to a market value of USD 47.2 billion by end of 2013
-Worldwide mobile music revenue stood at USD 11.7 billion at end-2008 and is forecast to hit USD 19.2 billion at end of 2013
-The value of the worldwide mobile gaming reached USD 5.5 billion by the end of 2008 and we predict it will grow to USD 9.8 billion by year-end 2013
-Worldwide revenues from mobile video will nearly triple to reach USD 18.2 billion by end of 2013, up from USD 6.7 billion at end of 2008
-The mobile gambling market is projected to grow significantly in the near future, and will be a big business driver for MNOs; Europe alone is expected to generate USD 3.2 billion in annual revenue by end of 2010.

For more details follow this link to Portio Research

Juniper Research - Mobile Gambling Report
November 2008

-Global total wagers on mobile phones are expected to more than double in 2009 to more than $3.6bn and expected to increase to more than $27.5bn by 2013
-Mobile betting will account for 75% of all gambling on mobile handsets in 2008, with casino-type gambling the second-largest sector
-The UK alone will account for more than 30% of bets placed in 2008
-Global gross win from mobile betting services is expected to exceed $1bn annually by 2012
-Global gross win from mobile gambling services will rise from just under $192m in 2008 to $3.4bn by 2013.

For more details follow this link to Juniper Research

Portio Research

In 2007, worldwide, non-voice services accounted for 18.9 percent of total mobile services revenues, and this figure looks set to keep growing, reaching more than 25.5 percent by the end of 2012. To put that in context, worldwide consumer spending on non-voice mobile services in 2012 will exceed 251 Billion US Dollars - more than a quarter of a trillion Dollars per annum. For more details follow this link to the Portio Research report