A decade ago, the advent of the Internet saw the media, marketing and telecom worlds being thrown into chaos. It changed the way how the world looked into the world of information and communication. 2006 will see that mobile phones bringing about a change similar to what the Internet did in the mid 90s through the first half of the current decade.
According to Internet research firm eMarketer forecasts, the number of US consumers who watch TV programming on mobile handsets will skyrocket to 15 million in 2009, which is a phenomenal growth from the current 1.2 million users.
Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new “Mobile Entertainment: The Rise of the Very Small Screen” report says;
Mobile video and audio entertainment are bringing new energy to the US wireless business. There are real opportunities out there.Yes indeed! Almost all major media, telecom and entertainment companies are placing high stakes on content appearing on mobile devices. Entertainment content has immense potential to offer mobile carriers a lucrative new revenue stream. Mobile phones on their part could provide a compelling new platform for media companies and marketers.
Debra rightly said;
Mobile video will present some of the most compelling mobile entertainment marketing opportunities. Just as online video advertising has taken off because of the way it blends video’s high brand engagement with the Internet’s interactive, tracking and targeting capabilities, so too will marketers be drawn to mobile video advertising.Now a note that can come as a dampener to many mobile TV enthusiasts because the future, while it looks promising, the current usage mobile entertainment in the US is very low. According to M:Metrics data from October 2005, less than 10% of US mobile subscribers used their mobile’s browser to send/receive photo message or buy a ringtone or surf for news and information and fewer than 5% used it to buy wallpapers or download games.
So Debra concludes with a pinch of skepticism. She says;
Do US consumers want to be entertained by their mobile phone? That’s the billion-dollar question. Many US mobile phone users think their phone is just fine for talking, and that’s about it. Plus, there are significant technology and standards barriers to overcome.However, notwithstanding the abysmal popularity rate amongst mobile subscribers currently in using a mobile phone to get news, information, entertainment content etc, with a little passage of time, people will eventually turn into their mobile phones for one-stop entertainment, news, information etc. Mobile phones have already grown much beyond the basic use which is to send and receive calls from people and texting. As far as the ’significant technology barriers’ are concerned, they will be overcome sooner than anyone can expect. The development of such technology is currently underway at break-neck speeds in many parts of the world, especially in Japan, Korea and Scandinavian countries that are ages ahead of the US in such technologies.
As the mobile phone is fast replacing a computer, and the technology to broadcast TV content is already being used commercially, nothing can stop the march of the mobile phone in the near future of being the most preferred device through which users can not only talk to people, but do a wide array of things like using it as a computer and TV, mp3 player etc.
Source: Mobiledia
