Telecom Expense Management Featured Article

Consumer media phones will generate between $4 billion and $8 billion in annual revenue worldwide by 2013, according to a new report from a Scottsdale, Arizona-based hi-tech market research firm.

 

Officials at In-Stat also say that business media phones will generate about $3.3 billion in annual revenue by that time, and that the U.S. market will open up this year, with Europe coming online in 2010.

 

“The media phone represents a new category of broadband multimedia device that has the potential to become the fourth screen in the home, complementing the PC, TV and mobile handset,” the firm says in its 51-page report, “The Media Phone Has Arrived.”

 

“The media phone delivers direct access to Internet-based entertainment and applications using a large (6- to 10-inch) color touchscreen display with a high-quality speakerphone,” In-Stat (News - Alert) says. “The media phone combines the power of a PC with the always-on functionality of the home telephone. Most units are configured with one or more cordless DECT (News - Alert) voice handsets, suitable for any room in the house.”

 

Devices such as the AT&T (News - Alert) HomeManager – pictured right – cost about $300 and require two-year high-speed Internet contracts with the carriers who offer them.

 

According to In-Stat, features of the phones include VoIP calling, digital picture frames, WiFi (News - Alert)-enabled BB basestations and visual voice mail, e-mail and call logs.

 

“Service providers and IP phone manufacturers, alike, are introducing media phones to add value to traditional voice telephones and enable IP-based services,” In-Stat officials say. “Devices, such as the Verizon (News - Alert) Hub and AT&T HomeManager, support both IP communications, as well as delivery of Internet information and multimedia content.”

 

In-Stat says the evolution of the media phone product has just begun, and that – over time – media phones will be integrated with next-generation network services that employ user profiles, presence-enabled applications, unified messaging and potentially integrated fixed-mobile services.

 

Here’s a look at how In-Stat envisions fully subsidized versus partially subsidized unit shipments, in the millions, from 2008 to 2013:

 

 

And here’s how the firm sees subsidized versus non-subsidized annual revenues for meida phones for the same time frame:

 

 

Finally, this is how In-Stat diagrams business media phone unit and revenue forecasts (both units and dollars in the millions) for 2008 to 2013:

 

According to In-Stat, the media phone may support integrated network and Web services, as well.

 

“Cable operators, mobile operators and over-the-top Internet application providers are all expected to link media phones with new broadband-based services,” the firm says. “To achieve broad adoption, some operators plan to subsidize a major portion of media phone costs.”