A new study from ABI Research predicts that the market value for mobile video telephony services will grow from $1 billion this year to more than $17 billion by 2012. The research firm cautions, however, that the conditions driving or inhibiting such growth depends on region-specific circumstances.
Among the services cited for growth by the study, titled “Mobile Video Communications Services,” are video mail, video calling and video sharing services. The Web 2.0 phenomenon, along with sites allowing mobile video posting, will help push demand for such services, according to a press statement made about the study by Dan Shey, principal analyst at ABI Research.
At the same time, however, growth could be inhibited by such factors as income levels, messaging and video viewing alternatives and handset capabilities. Shey also noted that there was “an uncertainty factor for operators of video services on network utilization, which will affect their promotion and pricing strategies.”
The study predicts that the industrialized regions of North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific will command 90 percent of the world’s video services revenues. For carriers operating in the developing regions of the world, where the remaining 10 percent of revenue could be realized, the best bet is to take advantage of the market for video messaging services. According to Shey, “The mobile phone is the most common device in these regions and 2.5G networks are sufficient for this service. With more people migrating and immigrating to find work, video messaging can be the service that provides a rich form of communication for social and family connectivity.”
For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.
