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Consumers will pay for mobile content
Thursday, January 17 2002
by Matthew Clark


Jupiter MMXI says that by 2006 European consumers will spend EUR3.3 billion for
content on their mobile phones, compared to EUR1.7 billion on their PCs.







The research company released a report on Thursday which claims that while most
content on the wired Internet is free, due to consumer demand, consumers are
willing to pay for content on the wireless Web. The company says adult content is
currently the only type of on-line business that generates significant income
from paid content, comprising 70 percent of the EUR252 million spent on content
by Western European Internet users in 2001. The remainder of this content-based
revenue is generated from games, finance and business news. 



"While media businesses are launching paid content initiatives across Europe,
consumers are still very reluctant to pay for content on their PC," Jupiter
says. The research company claimed that 47 percent of European Web users would
not even consider paying for content on the PC Internet in the future. However,
it also said that 16 percent of Europeans would consider paying for music
on-line, a much higher percentage than other categories. "It is really going to
be difficult to convince people to pay for what they are already getting for
free," Olivier Beauvillain, analyst with Jupiter MMXI and author of the report,
told ElectricNews.Net 





On a positive note for non-adult Web sites however, the company says that by
2006, 67 percent of total European paid content spending will come from music,
gaming, and on-line video, as broadband technologies such as ADSL advance. 



But despite consumer reluctance to pay for traditional Web content, in part due
to unfriendly billing techniques, the wireless Web will be a far more attractive
medium for buying because "mobile phones are a much better billing platform
than the PC," Jupiter claims. Beauvillain explained that the ability of mobile
operators to allow users to simply and easily bill their mobile phone accounts is
a primary factor in consumer willingness to pay for content.  



In 2001, EUR590 million was spent by Europeans for content on their mobile
phones, such as ring tones, logos, sports scores and stock prices. This is almost
twice the EUR252 million spent on the PC. 



Although ringtones and logos are hot sellers now, e-cards, e-mail, SMS alerts,
multimedia alerts (with audio and images) and "every thing relating to impulse
buying" will become popular paid services in the years ahead, Beauvillain
explained



By 2006, Jupiter MMXI estimates that consumers will spend EUR3.3 billion for
content on mobile phones, compared to EUR1.7 billion on PCs.  "Increasing
usage of short messaging service (SMS) on mobile phones is good news for the
media industry. Newspapers and magazines struggling to generate direct consumer
revenues from their Web sites have more opportunity to charge for content on
mobile phones. They should use their Web presence as a way to promote mobile
content with which they will be able to generate more revenues", said
Beauvillain. 



Beauvillain however concluded by saying e-commerce, for tangible products such as
CDs, books, clothes, and software will remain more popular on the wired Web.
"People like to see what they are buying and want to know more about who they
are buying from," Beauvillain explained.  However m-commerce sites that allow
users to re-order identical items regularly, such as groceries or flowers, may
become popular m-commerce items, he said.