Mobile video is a tough sell

July 21, 2005

With the emerging availability of mobile video, a recent In-Stat US mobile phone subscriber survey revealed that one in eight respondents indicated they were interested in purchasing mobile video services from their wireless carrier, reports In-Stat. However, two thirds of mobile phone subscribers are not yet ready for video services on their handsets, a number that is nearly unchanged from the previous year's survey, the high-tech market research firm says.

Though mobile video does not yet appear to have widespread appeal, In-Stat believes that there is enough interest for it to generate some significant revenue for carriers in the near term. The number of subscribers purchasing mobile video content in the U.S. will increase from an estimated 1.1 million in 2005 to over 30 million in 2010, In-Stat forecasts.

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

- The most desirable customers (long-term loyal customers who are satisfied with their service and unlikely to churn to other carriers) are the least interested in purchasing mobile video.

- In-Stat's analysis of the consumer survey provides some pricing guidelines that maximize carrier revenue.

- Between now and 2010, the greatest year-on-year growth will come in the 2005-2006 period as deployment of high-bandwidth networks become more widespread in the US. It will also be a period of expanded carrier marketing of video services increases and broader availability of video-capable handsets.