Asia Pacific - AP mobile messaging revenue to hit US$39b in 2011

KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile messaging services revenues in Asia-Pacific (AP) will increase 7% year-on-year to US$39 billion in 2011, according to Australia-based Ovum.

It said that the number of mobile text, picture and video messages sent in the AP region would increase by 14% from 3 trillion last year to 3.5 trillion this year.

The AP region accounts for almost 50% of the estimated 7.5 trillion global traffic in 2011, it said.

In a report entitled "The Future of Mobile Messaging" released Thursday, Sept 15, Ovum said the growth was driven by countries such as China, which contributed significantly to messaging revenue and traffic for Asia Pacific.

China was also billed as the star performer with an 11% increase in revenue from 2010 to 2011.

Ovum said the compounded annual growth rate for the Asia Pacific region from 2011 to 2016 was forecast to be 4.76%, the second highest growing region after South and Central America.

However, Ovum cautioned that this trend would eventually slow down as alternative messaging solutions from internet service providers, handset vendors and social networks seek to capture the market.

“The Asia Pacific market will be relatively insulated from the impending global market.

“Growth rates will slow down in terms of revenue and messaging traffiv growth but it will not result in a decline for the period forecasted,” it said.

Ovum analyst and author of the report, Neha Dharia, said that while over the next four years the mobile messaging would continue to grow it was fast approaching an inflection point.

“Consumers will increasingly choose to send messages via the growing list of internet based messaging services that have entered the market, rather than the traditional text message,” said Dharia.

Dharia added RIM's BlackBerry Messenger, Apple's iMessage and Nokia's Ovi messaging have all been successful in creating messaging services to rival the SMS.

“The trend is intensifying due to the growing presence of smartphones, low-cost data plans, and the prevalence of third-party messaging service providers on the mobile phone.

“To continue to drive revenues from messaging, mobile operators will need to be innovative in their approach to both the services they offer and their business models” she said.

Ovum also suggested mobile operators to expand their messaging portfolio and add their own internet based messaging option to regain lost market share.

However, they must be careful not to replicate those already in the market place, it said.

“Simply replicating a popular third-party service won’t result in success for an operator-branded service.

Operators must offer over and above a basic service, by leveraging exclusive information they hold on consumers, such as frequently called contacts,” said Dharia.

Source: http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/technology/193016-ap-mobile-messaging-revenue-to-hit-us39b-in-2011-.html by Syarinah Hyzah Zakaria of theedgemalaysia.com on 15th September 2011.

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