Teen mobile subscriber market reaching saturation: Study

By Mickey Alam Khan

June 30, 2008

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A new study claims that the number of U.S. mobile subscribers age 12-17 last year crossed 16 million, up 12 percent from 2006. But that growth momentum may not hold.

The number of teen mobile subscribers will reach 17 million by 2012, an increase of only 1 million from 2007, according to new research from MultiMedia Intelligence that also pulled data from Experian Consumer Research. This indicates stagnant growth.

“At that age group there’s going to be a saturation point where you’re hard-pressed to gain additional subscribers,” said Frank Dickson, cofounder and chief research officer of MultiMedia Intelligence, Scottsdale, AZ.

Per the research, the subscriber market for teens closer to 17 is approaching a 90 percent penetration rate.

Pricing pressures and teen mobile penetration are the two reasons for the slowdown in this teenage subscriber market.

In another finding, MultiMedia Intelligence said that teenage mobile subscriber growth is seasonal, with the third and fourth quarters being the strongest.

More than half of teenagers are mobile subscribers by age 13, the study found.

An examination of the data indicates that girls mature earlier to mobile than boys. The trend continues at a higher age with teenage girl subscribers outnumber boys. But the gap narrows when they’re both age 17.

Also, the Hispanic teen market is growing in importance. It is projected to approach 3 million subscribers by 2012.

The findings were published in a study titled, “The Maturing Wireless Teen Market: 12-17 U.S. Teen Wireless Subscribers, Revenue, ARPU and Content.”

The stagnant growth in the teenage mobile subscribers market affects more the wireless carriers than the handset manufacturers.

“The carriers have seen pretty significant growth in subscribers and one of the areas is the teen subscribers [segment],” Mr. Dickson said. “To maintain the growth in the subscribers they’ve seen of late, they’ve going to have to look at some other markets.

“You’re not going to see an impact on manufacturers since there’s going to be a churn in handsets,” he said.

“If there is an impact, that impact may be delayed on handset manufacturers by a year or two. And the reason is that often times a young person’s handset may not be a new handset but a hand-me-down from parents.”

Comments on "Teen mobile subscriber market reaching saturation: Study"

1. Leil Riley says:

   June 30, 2008 at 5:00pm

   Mobile marketers and companies should realize the potential and exploit the big opportunities in running SMS campaigns on this market segment.