Disqus
A Juniper Research’s analysis of the global mobile payments opportunity forecasts that 2.1 billion mobile subscribers will “pay by mobile” for digital goods downloaded to their mobile phones by 2013. The research company defines digital goods as music, tickets, TV, user-generated content, infotainment and games — any content bought by phone and delivered to the phone.
According to Juniper, there is a significant growth opportunity not only for mobile payment systems, software, support and consultancy services vendors, but also for mobile operators to increase their ARPU as transaction frequencies accelerate.
Report author Howard Wilcox argues that many of the digital content goods and services are becoming basic ‘must haves’ particularly in the sub 35 age group. “Devices like the iPhone even in its 3G incarnation – are undoubtedly contributing to consumer awareness and usage of mobile music services. People who are 15 to 20 today will expect to buy directly with their phones and will drive this market over the next few years,” he added.
Highlights from the report include:
- Users are forecast to make at least two payment transactions per month for digital goods by 2013.
- Nearly half of all mobile phone users will have bought digital goods at least once with their phones by 2013.
- The two leading regions, Western Europe and Far East and China, will account for over 50% of the total digital goods gross transaction market value by 2013.
More information about Juniper Research’s report “Mobile Payment Markets: Digital & Physical Goods 2008 – 2013″ is available from their website.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
