Global mobile entertainment revenues will equal $54.1 billion in 2015, according to a new white paper from Juniper Research. Data from “Entertainment on the Move” indicates the Far East & China will remain the region providing the largest share of mobile entertainment revenues.
Far East & China Provide 40% of Mobile Entertainment Revenues
As of 2010, the Far East & China accounted for 39% of global mobile entertainment revenues. Juniper attributes this strong performance primarily to the strong Chinese ringback tone market, with full-track mobile video and game markets in Japan and South Korea also playing a key role.
The second-largest regional market is Western Europe, driven by social media and infotainment segments. However, Juniper advises mobile music sales in Western Europe declined during 2010 due to a collapse in ringtone sales which more than offset growth in subscription and full-track download segments.
North America Expected to Grow
In 2015, Juniper is projecting that the Far East/China and Western Europe mobile entertainment markets will retain their one-two position in terms of the share of revenues they provide. North America is expected to position a strong third, not that far behind the share of Western Europe.
Juniper expects North America to experience the largest growth in mobile entertainment revenues during the next four years, due to demand for smartphones and smartphone content. However, Juniper says currently the adult and gambling mobile entertainment sectors in North America are underserved, while mobile social media revenues are rising sharply.
Africa/Middle East, Central/Eastern Europe, the Indian Subcontinent, and the rest of Asia/Pacific will all represent small shares of mobile entertainment revenues in 2015.
Mobile Entertainment Market Drivers
Juniper has identified the following key global mobile entertainment market drivers:
- Mobile Ubiquity: Global penetration of active SIMs (subscriber identity modules) reached 73% at the end of 2010, with levels exceeding 100% in Europe.
- Rise of the App Store: By January 2011, more than 10 billion mobile apps had been downloaded by iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads alone.
- Rise of the Smartphone: Global smartphone shipments almost doubled from roughly 120 million in 2007 to 230 million in 2010.
- Mobile Internet Adoption: Juniper estimates there were more than 1.3 billion mobile internet users worldwide by the end of 2010, about 27% of the global mobile subscriber base. Juniper expects this figure to rise to 35% by the end of 2012 and 42% by the end of 2015.
Mobile SocNet Use Grows
Social networking is among the fastest-growing US mobile categories by total audience, according to a recent report from comScore. Data from “The 2010 Mobile Year in Review” indicates social networking reached 57.9 million US mobile users in December 2010, up 56% from a little less than 40 million in December 2009.
