In-Stat: Streaming Music Still a Cell Phone Multimedia Favorite

According to a recently published In-Stat report, “Consumers are Warming to Mobile Multimedia,” interest in mobile video has increased during the past three years but streaming music still leads the way. The research firm added that streaming music is most like familiar and successful mobile consumer services, and therefore offers many marketing benefits. In addition, an advantage for carriers is that streaming is not subject to the same Digital Rights Management issues involved with music file sharing.

“Streaming music, which could be marketed like satellite radio services, such as XM and Sirius, holds the most interest of all mobile multimedia for consumers, and it may be easier to deliver than video,” said David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst.

In-Stat research found the following:

• According to three years of In-Stat surveys, consumer interest in mobile video is increasing, albeit not as quickly as interest in mobile music. In 2006, 14.2 percent of respondents could be considered likely adopters of mobile video.
• In-Stat forecasts that revenue from mobile video for entertainment purposes could grow to more than $6 billion per year by 2011.
• In the In-Stat mobile multimedia consumer survey, 44 percent of respondents who own music-playing handsets have not added any music files to their phones.

In-Stat’s research is part of its Mobile Consumer service and covers the worldwide market for mobile multimedia consumer services. It includes results of In-Stat’s survey of more than 1,000 U.S. wireless users conducted to determine their interest toward four types of mobile multimedia: streaming video, downloaded video clips, streaming music and downloaded music files. It also provides comprehensive demographic and wireless usage habits of consumers that are most likely to adopt each of these multimedia types. Also included are global forecasts of video and music files delivered over cellular networks.

In-Stat www.instat.com

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