According to a recent report from ABI Research, SMS will continue to maintain its lead as the highest revenue generator across all messaging categories, providing global service revenues of $177 billion in 2013. However, ABI notes it’s the regional differences that will determine the success of messaging expansion into the Web, advertising, and the incorporation of mobile messaging within social networking media.
ABI’s principal analyst Dan Shey says there are some innovative companies which are exploring opportunities for expanding mobile messaging access to web sites as well as targeting customers with content and ads. He went on to add: “To be successful with these enhanced services, companies that supply mobile messaging products and services must understand the regional distributions for customer type, payment preferences, message delivery method, and usage.”
For instance, North America and Europe have the highest messaging ARPUs, and send the most messages from the computer to the mobile device using IM; Asia-Pacific subscribers sign up for the most SMS alert services; and Latin Americans are heavy SMS users, but prefer pay-as-you-go for all messaging services.
These regional differences will cause established messaging suppliers to reevaluate their business models. “This is a great time for smaller companies to develop new products and services individually and in partnerships to serve the niche needs of a region or country,” Shey added.
More information about ABI Research’s report entitled “Mobile Messaging Services” is available on their website.