The numer of cameraphones has reached 106 million in the US. This numer represents a 50% market penetration among mobile phone users. M:Metrics has released a study that finds that the proliferation of cameraphones is leading a decline in wallpaper and phone graphics revenue. As more and more people opt to plaster their own cameraphone pics on their homescreen, sales of mobile graphics have slackened.
Still, mobile phone graphics will continue to have a market as content providers offer free downloads for new subscriptions. Mark Donovan, senior Vp and analyst for M:Metrics, says, “Graphics remain a preferred type of content because of the more attractive terms typically associated with licensing of branded graphical content compared with the revenue splits that music labels and publishers expect from ringtones. However, graphics publishers have to work a lot harder and offer compelling, branded content to generate consumer interest.”
And, the increasing penetration of camera phones will help push mobile messaging revenues. “The penetration of this technology has a positive impact on operator data revenues overall as consumers increasingly purchase photo messaging bundles.”
We can hope to see messaging rates drop as operators entice more users to buy up photo messaging bundles.
via: cellularnews