April 14, 2009
Juniper Research: Despite Recession, Mobile Entertainment Market will Grow by about $13 Billion
By Narayan Bhat, TMCnet Contributing Editor
No matter how long the recession lasts, mobile entertainment revenues will increase by nearly $13 billion over the next five years, says market research firm Juniper Research (News - Alert).
Before the onset of the economic downturn, the firm says, the mobile entertainment industry was projected to grow more than $26 billion. That figure will now be reduced almost by a half.
The region that normally acts as a driving force for the growth in this market is Asia, the report notes.
Mobile TV is most likely to be severely impacted by the recession, followed by music and user-generated content, according to Juniper.
Unless the key markets emerge from recession, spending on mobile entertainment services will slow dramatically, the firm warns. Its report argues that slower deployment of content services was delaying earnings in mobile entertainment in several key markets.
As spending slows, there may be reduced adoption of subscription-based content -- one-off downloads of games and music will also be adversely affected.
What is hindering growth of the industry and preventing people from signing up for these services is the high cost, says Dr. Windsor Holden, author of the report.
"While operators have made significant strides in reducing the costs of bundled data, the overwhelming majority of mobile users are prepaid customers who want to sample mobile Internet usage before committing to a bundle,” Holden said in a release.
Despite the downturn, the report notes, revenues derived from mobile entertainment services will still be significant.
Andrew Bud, global chair of the Mobile Entertainment Forum (News - Alert), said, "We concur with this report's identification of so many factors driving growth in mobile entertainment worldwide. It is clearly positive that Juniper concludes this market will grow so substantially over the next few years despite the recession."
Before the onset of the economic downturn, the firm says, the mobile entertainment industry was projected to grow more than $26 billion. That figure will now be reduced almost by a half.
The region that normally acts as a driving force for the growth in this market is Asia, the report notes.
Mobile TV is most likely to be severely impacted by the recession, followed by music and user-generated content, according to Juniper.
Unless the key markets emerge from recession, spending on mobile entertainment services will slow dramatically, the firm warns. Its report argues that slower deployment of content services was delaying earnings in mobile entertainment in several key markets.
As spending slows, there may be reduced adoption of subscription-based content -- one-off downloads of games and music will also be adversely affected.
What is hindering growth of the industry and preventing people from signing up for these services is the high cost, says Dr. Windsor Holden, author of the report.
"While operators have made significant strides in reducing the costs of bundled data, the overwhelming majority of mobile users are prepaid customers who want to sample mobile Internet usage before committing to a bundle,” Holden said in a release.
Despite the downturn, the report notes, revenues derived from mobile entertainment services will still be significant.
Andrew Bud, global chair of the Mobile Entertainment Forum (News - Alert), said, "We concur with this report's identification of so many factors driving growth in mobile entertainment worldwide. It is clearly positive that Juniper concludes this market will grow so substantially over the next few years despite the recession."
Narayan Bhat is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Narayan’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Patrick Barnard
