We don’t download
Valista, a provider of multi-channel payments and offer management software, today revealed the results of research carried out at this years Mobile Content World conference in London. The poll, which quizzed over a hundred show attendees, indicates that those within the mobile industry are not leading by example when it comes to downloading content.
Mobile Content World is a show attended by content owners, handset vendors, mobile operators and technology providers. Valista asked these attendees what phone they were using, and details of their content download habits as well as giving their views on the mobile content market’s prospects for the next five years. Startlingly, 53% of respondents last downloaded content over a week ago, with 25% not downloading anything in the last month and 14% never having downloaded any content at all. Those interviewed showed a preference for the older GSM/GPRS enabled handsets (56%) rather than the newer 3G devices.
For those who had accessed content, the familiar ringtone was the download of choice, with music, gaming and information such as news, sport, weather and traffic updates, all falling into second place. Unsurprisingly, shopping for hard goods was the least popular purchase using the mobile device.
Good news for the industry came in the opinion among an overwhelming number of respondents (85%) that the process of downloading content was easy and convenient. Less positive was the news that 92% of the content purchased was a one-off basis and not part of an ongoing subscription model.
Looking to the future, videos and music were expected to be the most popular downloads in three years time – opinions that are perhaps encouraged by the recent launch of the iPod phone from Motorola and the slow but steady increase in 3G subscribers in the Europe. Perhaps more concerning was the fact that 26% of the industry insiders questioned thought that in three years 3G would still be “just catching on”.
Those questioned in the Valista poll also expressed scepticism for the recent European i-mode launch announcements, with 53% believing that i-mode will not be a household name in five years time. A large proportion (21%) of these industry players, were not even aware of the i-mode proposition now.
Valista CEO, Raomal Perera expressed his amazement at the findings, “We are very surprised at the results of our research. You would expect that such industry leaders attending a show like this would be downloading content on a very regular basis. The mobile content market has fantastic growth potential which has not yet been realised. A move towards greater consumer choice, competitive pricing, focusing on value for money and customer satisfaction, will lead to an increase in the uptake of premium mobile content and services.”