The mobile internet will finally come of age this year and mobile video will take off, according to predictions from the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF).
The MEF also predicts that the industry will see greater pricing transparency for consumers, although mobile advertising still will not become mainstream.
The MEF’s top ten trends for 2009 list, which was compiled from member feedback about the industry’s biggest opportunities and challenges, suggests that this year will be both important and interesting for mobile entertainment.
On one hand, MEF said, the global economy is facing unprecedented challenges. On the other, the $25B global industry has held steady through both good and bad times and 2009 will be a year in which almost a decade of investments begin to deliver returns.
MEF’s top 10 mobile entertainment trends for 2009: 1. The ‘iPhone effect’: Mobile applications have emerged as a new content category and the mobile internet will finally come of age. 2. Greater value and transparency for consumers will help sustain demand in 2009. 3. There will be some delay in the proliferation of mobile advertising. 4. Telcos will begin to act as enablers for the entertainment industry with services such as billing, authentication and zero-tariff data driving adoption. 5. Services that operate at a multi-platform level are on their way to becoming dominant. 6. There will be a rise in ringback tones. 7. Social networking will become an important driver of mobile entertainment consumption. 8. Mobile video will really take off in 2009. 9. Emerging world economies will become an increasingly important driver for global mobile entertainment. 10. The proliferation of touch-screen devices will continue to drive discoverability and content usage.
The Analysys Mason report Mobile broadband in Europe: forecasts and analysis 2009-2014 predicts that the mobile broadband market will continue its rapid growth during the next five years, generating valuable new revenue streams for mobile network operators (see Mobile broadband market to continue its rapid growth).
Research from Nielsen Online, meanwhile, has found that from Q2 to Q3 2008, the number of Britons using mobile internet increased by 25% (from 5.8 to 7.3 million) compared to 3% for PC-based internet (34.3 to 35.3 million Britons) (see Increase in Britons using mobile internet).
