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Mobile Market Insights

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



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