Over half of 12 to 17 year olds with mobile phones claim to have downloaded ring tones, while just under 50% of those aged 18 to 24 have used the technology, while older users prove more stubborn, as 30% of users between 25 and 35 experiment with mobile content.
According to Matt Kleinschmit, vice president of Ipsos-Insight, ring tone downloads could signal wider music downloading in the future.
He explained: “An important component in this emerging content space is the presence of an existing billing relationship with the consumer, thus providing a significant advantage over PC based content delivery methods, where cumbersome registration and payment processes can discourage impulse purchases.”
According to a survey by M:Metrics, downloading ring tones was the fourth most popular mobile content activity performed by US mobile subscribers, behind text messaging, searching for news and information online and using personal email (see Multi Use Of Mobile Handsets).
Almost a fifth of mobile phone users worldwide have downloaded content to their phones, with a study by LogicaCMG predicting a 60% increase in the technology in one year’s time (see Mobile Downloading To Rise By 60%).
The research was conducted globally during May and June 2005, with the findings leading LogicaCMG to forecast the mobile content industry to bring in multi-billion dollar revenues by 2006.
Respondents in the Asia-Pacific region were found to be the most enthusiastic about advanced mobile functions, with almost three-quarters of users surveyed in the region expecting to be downloading ringtones to their phone in the next twelve months, compared to 27% of North American mobile phone users, 25% of South America and 20% of respondents in Europe.
Mobile users in the Asia-Pacific region are similarly ahead with other content, such as images, screensavers, music, games and sports clips.
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