Mobile content for adults to reach $5B by 2013: Juniper
By Dan Butcher
December 31, 2008
Mobile adult content is hot
Video chat services are expected to be the largest contributors to a mobile-content-for-adults market worth $4.9 billion by 2013, despite the economic downturn, according to a new report from Juniper Research.
The report found that while such services were used by a comparatively small number of consumers, the high spend levels -- in many markets averaging several hundred dollars per user per annum -- are expected to push the value of the adult video chat market past the $1 billion mark by 2011. The report also found that mobile adult service revenues proving relatively robust despite the global economic slowdown.
"We anticipate total revenues for 2008 of around $2.2 billion, which are around 3.5 percent below our previous forecasts," the Juniper Research report said.
"And while in some instances usage levels are marginally lower than we expected, we are actually seeing significantly higher spend per user on video chat and on some subscription-based services," it says.
However, the report also noted that a number of markets -- such as Indonesia and Switzerland -- had tightened the laws governing the access of adult content, while operators in the United States still remained wary of offering such content on their portals.
Nonetheless, it observed that elsewhere, particularly in Europe and parts of Latin America, on-portal adult content -- usually managed by third-parties -- was becoming far more prevalent.
Authored by Windsor Holden, the Juniper report predicts that Western Europe will remain the largest regional market for mobile adult services throughout the period covered by the report, followed by the Far East and China.
While ringtones were the first service which generated substantial revenues, off-portal adult services -- initially basic graphics and text-based services, followed by photographs and short video clips delivered via MMS -- were so successful in the markets where such content was legally available that carriers started to offer content on their portals, albeit managed by third-parties.
And the content has become yet more sophisticated. The arrival of 3G has brought streamed video services and, most recently, one-to-one video chat.
The types of mobile adult content include text-based adult services and SMS chatting, images and MMS, erotic games, video-based services and "moantones" -- the erotic manifestations of ringtones involving screams, moans and groans from models.
Juniper found that premium content providers are becoming increasingly concerned at the volume of free adult content available via the Internet.
Based in Hampshire, England, Juniper provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.