Innovation and Customization to Drive Mobile Messaging Growth to $212 Billion by 2013, Says ABI Research

Business Wire, March 21, 2008

NEW YORK -- SMS is taking off in the Americas, mobile e-mail continues its strong growth in developed regions, subscriber growth is driving messaging adoption in Asia-Pacific, and social networking is lifting the messaging boat across nearly all regions. The combination of these factors is expected to grow revenues from mobile messaging to $212 billion by 2013, according to a new study from ABI Research.

Messaging services growth will have different regional specific drivers. Despite the differences, however, the common growth denominator is that messaging services provide a timely, cost-effective, customer-specific communication and information capability. Principal analyst Dan Shey says, "You will not find many customers worldwide who don't find messaging cost-effective and valuable for communications and delivery of information. The range of capabilities, services and pricing options can be fit to the economic and social differences of each region, and the result quite simply is steady growth over the next five years."

But the benefits driving messaging growth go beyond its obvious economic, social and convenience advantages relative to voice calling. The next stage of messaging growth will be strongly influenced by new input and access capabilities, and integration across mobile and fixed-line platforms. According to Shey, "Innovation in messaging input, including touch screens, voice-to-text, and advanced keyboard designs, makes initiating a mobile message very easy. By combining input options with greater ease of communicating across mobile and fixed platforms regardless of messaging service, messaging providers serve customers' needs very well in both the consumer and business domains."

And is there a third stage of growth for mobile messaging? Says Shey, "Some very creative companies are finding unique ways to incorporate advertising in mobile messaging. If done right, advertising will completely change the mobile messaging market."

In its new report, Mobile Messaging Services (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_research/ Mobile_Messaging_Services)(Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.), ABI Research examines the messaging market across five common platforms: SMS, MMS, voicemail, IM, and e-mail/unified messaging. It details the drivers not only from the consumer and business perspectives, but also the supply-side drivers including those from device vendors, operators and middleware providers. Forecasts are provided for revenues, ARPUs, customers, penetration and usage for the SMS and MMS services and the e-mail and IM platforms. Distribution by type of delivery and payment method is also provided for the data messaging services platforms.

It forms part of two ABI Research Services: Business Mobility (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/SE-BMO) and Consumer Mobility (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/SE-CMO).

ABI Research is a leading market research firm focused on the impact of emerging technologies on global consumer and business markets. Utilizing a unique blend of market intelligence, primary research, and expert assessment from its worldwide team of industry analysts, ABI Research assists hundreds of clients each year with their strategic growth initiatives. For information, visit www.abiresearch.com, or call 1.516.624.2500.