November 29, 2006, it was said that the total worth of the entire mobile entertainment market, composed of gambling, adult content, mobile games, mobile music and mobile television is currently at a staggering $17 Billion and is predicted to rise to $47 Billion by the year 2009 and to $77 Billion by the year 2011. According to Juniper Research, the mobile entertainment industry will be able to reach the $77 Billion mark because it is expected that broadcast mobile TV and the mass market casual games, especially cellular phone gambling, will click with the masses. Juniper also predicts that the key areas of growth will be the European and Asia Pacific regions.
From 2006 to 2011, Europe is expected to contribute about 35% and the Asia Pacific region is predicted to contribute about 37% to the profits from the mobile entertainment industry. For the moment, the mobile music industry is the biggest area in mobile entertainment. About 80% of the profits come from mobile music ringtones. After the mobile music industry, the second largest market is "infotainment", which contains a wide array of sport, leisure and information products, but is still dominated by wallpapers for the time being.
Juniper said that the domination of the mobile entertainment industry with these traditional offerings will still not be significant in a couple of years. The up and coming mobile network technologies will become a common thing and customers of the product will enjoy the wide array of entertainment applications that can be enjoyed by the customers using their own mobile phones. Juniper Research states that by 2011, the profits that both mobile games and mobile TV produce will surpass the profits that are generated by the mobile music industry, despite the immense growth from the full track music that the industry offers to its customers. The volume of bets that gamblers placed through their cellular phones will also surpass the value of the mobile music market.
The mobile gambling area of the industry is also not expected to experience a price reduction for their products and services. According to Bruce Gibson, a Senior Consultant at Juniper Research, these changes are tremendous chances to earn profits for all of the value chain participants in the mobile entertainment market in a couple of years. He further added that with the on the go lifestyle in both the developed and still developing market, the customers will have access to entertainment and relaxation.
December 13, 2006
Matt Gross