The future of mobile messaging

by kiwanja

I often get emails from research companies or publishers trying to sell me things. Most aren’t relevant, remotely interesting or affordable. One this morning, from Portio Research, caught my eye. It’s still not affordable (at least not for us), but it did come with ten great report ‘teasers’. And all of them interesting and relevant. From the official email:

10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging

1. Revenues will break USD 300 billion in 2014. Annual worldwide mobile messaging revenue will reach nearly USD 210 billion by the end of 2011, and smash USD 300 billion in 2014.

2. Messaging currently accounts for the majority of global data revenues. Messaging in 2011 will still be responsible for more than 60 percent of global data revenues; SMS and MMS alone will contribute a massive 55.7 percent to global data revenues in 2011.

3. SMS is king. With little fanfare, SMS has long been the foundation and mainstay of non-voice service revenues. And will continue to be so for some time.

4. SMS brings in 13 times more revenue than Apps. SMS alone generated USD 114.6 billion in 2010, and will reach USD 126.8 billion in 2011. Compare that to forecasted mobile broadband revenues (USD 58.1 billion in 2011) and mobile application revenues (USD 9.5 billion in 2011) and there is still much to get excited about in the world of mobile messaging.

5. New European data usage trends are emerging. 2010 was something of a landmark year with significant growth seen in other mobile data services, beyond messaging. Trends seen in Japan and South Korea can never be seen as “typical” indicators of what will happen in other markets around the world, as those countries stand alone in terms of leading technology adoption. However, when mainstream markets in Western Europe witness trends that recur in more than one market, then we know a change is coming. Operations in Spain and Germany have now witnessed the changeover, where non-messaging mobile data revenues now exceed SMS revenues.

6. MMS is a huge success. Contrary to years of popular opinion that MMS somehow failed as a service, MMS is the second highest grossing non-voice mobile service of all time, second only to SMS.

7. MMS outperforms mobile apps and mobile music added together. In 2010, worldwide MMS traffic hit 248.7 billion MMS messages and generated massive revenues of USD 32.5 billion. To put that into perspective, MMS is bigger than mobile apps and mobile music added together, MMS is bigger than mobile gaming and mobile video added together, twice over. MMS is still a huge business, making a lot of money, and still growing in all geographic regions worldwide, and at a double-digit growth rate in most.

8. Europe records the highest mobile e-mail revenue. In 2010, the Asia Pacific region was the largest mobile e-mail market worldwide in terms of number of mobile e-mail users, whereas Europe generated the highest mobile e-mail revenue worldwide.

9. Latin America will see the largest mobile e-mail user base growth. As an individual country market, Japan has been the biggest market for mobile e-mail in terms of user penetration and it is expected to maintain its position in the near future. Over the coming years, the Latin America region will have the highest growth in its mobile e-mail market owing to the increasing smartphone penetration and the small current mobile e-mail user base.

10. Over 311 million people use Mobile IM. Mobile IM is ‘the small player’ in the mobile messaging mix, generating revenues of USD 6.8 billion in full-year 2010, a substantial amount of money, but small compared to the massive USD 114.6 billion generated by SMS. Mobile IM is an extremely popular service, with more than 311 million users at end-2010.

The full report – “Mobile Messaging Futures 2011-2015″ – is available here on the Portio Research website. Have your cheque book ready.

86 comments

1 Ken Banks { 06.30.11 at 9:10 am }: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
2 Luca Servo { 06.30.11 at 9:21 am }: RT @kiwanja: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
3 Pablo Abad Sanz { 06.30.11 at 9:30 am }: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
4 Emrys Schoemaker { 06.30.11 at 9:57 am }: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
5 Rebecca Harrison { 06.30.11 at 10:03 am }: World SMS revs 13 times bigger than apps RT @kiwanja "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/k02c9ZY #SMS #mobile
6 changefeed { 06.30.11 at 10:28 am }: ->@kiwanja: The future of mobile messaging http://bit.ly/mjiKiW
7 Paul Swider { 06.30.11 at 10:36 am }: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
8 FrontlineSMS o/ { 06.30.11 at 11:05 am }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile
9 Mehri { 06.30.11 at 11:05 am }: RT @FrontlineSMS: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile
10 IREX { 06.30.11 at 11:06 am }: RT @FrontlineSMS: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile
11 Gillian Wormley { 06.30.11 at 11:19 am }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile
12 umwiza { 06.30.11 at 11:19 am }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile
13 J. Fortuny { 06.30.11 at 11:31 am }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile
14 Gwendolyn Regina T { 06.30.11 at 11:33 am }: RT @FrontlineSMS: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know Abt Mobile Messaging" http://is.gd/IHBd8I
15 Carolyn DerVartanian { 06.30.11 at 11:51 am }: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
16 Esoko { 06.30.11 at 12:29 pm }: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
17 Clare Salisbury { 06.30.11 at 12:42 pm }: RT @FrontlineSMS: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile"
18 Paul Jones { 06.30.11 at 12:43 pm }: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
19 Nim Patel { 06.30.11 at 1:01 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile
20 The future of mobile messaging | Global Health Hub { 06.30.11 at 1:08 pm }: [...] See the article here: The future of mobile messaging [...]
21 Ononuju Victoria { 06.30.11 at 2:20 pm }: Fascinating new report which includes "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #SMS #mobile
22 FrontlineSMS o/ { 06.30.11 at 2:43 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile
23 FrontlineSMS o/ { 06.30.11 at 2:43 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile
24 Katherine Lucey { 06.30.11 at 2:48 pm }: RT @FrontlineSMS: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz
25 Justin Arenstein { 06.30.11 at 2:48 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile
26 Angelo Embuldeniya { 06.30.11 at 3:10 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile
27 mGive { 06.30.11 at 3:12 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile
28 Adam Hasler { 06.30.11 at 3:16 pm }: RT @TopsyRT: The future of mobile messaging http://t.co/WJerSW1
29 Mobile Accord Inc. { 06.30.11 at 3:17 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile
30 Ken Banks { 06.30.11 at 4:52 pm }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
31 Medic Mobile { 06.30.11 at 4:56 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About #Mobile Messaging" http://bit.ly/kpCdwD via @Kiwanja #mhealth
32 Einstein Coll of Med { 06.30.11 at 6:45 pm }: RT @Medic: Thought #SMS was dead, think agn. "10 Facts You May Not Know About #Mobile Messaging" http://bit.ly/kpCdwD via @Kiwanja #mhealth
33 Razi Nurullayev { 06.30.11 at 7:37 pm }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
34 Pambos Soteriades { 06.30.11 at 7:59 pm }: The future of mobile messaging http://zite.to/jkpchA via @zite
35 Angelo Menconi { 06.30.11 at 8:11 pm }: The future of mobile messaging http://zite.to/jkpchA via @zite
36 Will Yell { 06.30.11 at 8:13 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About #Mobile Messaging" http://bit.ly/kpCdwD via @Kiwanja #mhealth
37 Darren Payne { 06.30.11 at 8:34 pm }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
38 Charlotte Sherman { 06.30.11 at 8:57 pm }: RT @kiwanja If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/QKWbzOs #mobile #SMS
39 Daniel Walters { 06.30.11 at 9:19 pm }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
40 IRIS (D. Barnes) { 06.30.11 at 10:37 pm }: RT @Medic: Thought #SMS was dead, think agn. "10 Facts You May Not Know About #Mobile Messaging" http://bit.ly/kpCdwD via @Kiwanja #mhealth
41 Tom Marentette { 07.01.11 at 2:13 am }: RT @medic: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About #Mobile Messaging" http://bit.ly/kpCdwD via @Kiwanja
42 Slooce Technology { 07.01.11 at 3:16 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
43 Toiya Kristen Finley { 07.01.11 at 3:55 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
44 David J. Kordsmeier { 07.01.11 at 4:31 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
45 Aarafa CS Ltd { 07.01.11 at 6:51 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
46 Aarafa CS Ltd { 07.01.11 at 6:51 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
47 in2mentalhealth { 07.01.11 at 9:07 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
48 Geoffrey Muchai { 07.01.11 at 4:14 pm }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile
49 Mauro Accurso { 07.01.11 at 5:08 pm }: el SMS sigue siendo el rey y Latam va a ser la región donde más crezca el email móvil. The future of mobile messaging http://t.co/TuiGstk
50 Lucas Zegada { 07.01.11 at 5:12 pm }: el SMS sigue siendo el rey y Latam va a ser la región donde más crezca el email móvil. The future of mobile messaging http://t.co/TuiGstk
51 Fabio Parada { 07.01.11 at 5:12 pm }: el SMS sigue siendo el rey y Latam va a ser la región donde más crezca el email móvil. The future of mobile messaging http://t.co/TuiGstk
52 Jennifer Johansson { 07.02.11 at 5:24 am }: If you thought #SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile
53 Jennifer Johansson { 07.02.11 at 5:24 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
54 Top Tech Tweets { 07.03.11 at 7:52 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
55 Tony Jamous { 07.03.11 at 9:02 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
56 Carlos Jordan { 07.03.11 at 11:12 am }: Messaging facts vs #apple & #apps hype RT @kiwanja "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
57 Tweeted Times Top { 07.03.11 at 7:26 pm }: The future of mobile messaging | Buil…: http://goo.gl/sRAL9 most discussed on @tw_kur/bop (http://goo.gl/zJZmJ)
58 Emrys Schoemaker { 07.04.11 at 11:18 am }: Fascinating facts about #mobile messaging: The future of mobile messaging http://t.co/BWWjdiw #sms via @kiwanja
59 Jon Gosier { 07.04.11 at 11:27 am }: Fascinating facts about #mobile messaging: The future of mobile messaging http://t.co/BWWjdiw #sms via @kiwanja
60 mythomobile { 07.04.11 at 11:49 am }: The future of mobile messaging http://ow.ly/5w8CQ
61 Mr Anderson { 07.04.11 at 11:57 am }: "SMS brings in 13 times more revenue than Apps" http://t.co/vhhVvBq Interesting via Kiwanja, makers of Frontline SMS
62 shakir husain { 07.04.11 at 11:58 am }: "SMS brings in 13 times more revenue than Apps" http://t.co/vhhVvBq Interesting via Kiwanja, makers of Frontline SMS
63 John Bennett { 07.04.11 at 12:00 pm }: "SMS brings in 13 times more revenue than Apps" http://t.co/vhhVvBq Interesting via Kiwanja, makers of Frontline SMS
64 Paul Bradshaw { 07.04.11 at 12:07 pm }: RT @kevglobal: "#SMS brings in 13 times more revenue than #Apps" http://t.co/vhhVvBq Interesting via Kiwanja, makers of Frontline SMS #stats
65 marc blank-settle { 07.04.11 at 12:18 pm }: 4bn use SMS worldwide, huge v. app users RT @kevglobal "SMS brings in 13 times more revenue than Apps" http://t.co/ErjHu5J /cc @tomiahonen
66 FrontlineSMS:Legal { 07.04.11 at 1:19 pm }: Messaging in 2011 will be more than 60% of global data revenues; SMS and MMS will contribute 55.7% http://ht.ly/5wbEb via @kiwanja @jongos
67 links for 2011-07-04 « Onlinejournalismtest's Blog { 07.04.11 at 2:06 pm }: [...] The future of mobile messaging | Build it Kenny, and they will come… RT @kevglobal: "#SMS brings in 13 times more revenue than #Apps" http://t.co/vhhVvBq Interesting via Kiwanja, makers of Frontline SMS #stats (tags: Apps via:packrati.us stats) [...]
68 Mobile companies to give out voice services for free – MTN Executive predicts : Ghana Business News { 07.04.11 at 2:34 pm }: [...] a report released by Portio Research, and published by the website, Kiwanji, has projected that annual worldwide mobile messaging revenue will reach nearly $210 billion by the [...]
69 dotpeople { 07.04.11 at 2:55 pm }: 4bn use SMS worldwide, huge v. app users RT @kevglobal "SMS brings in 13 times more revenue than Apps" http://t.co/ErjHu5J /cc @tomiahonen
70 Mobile companies to give out voice services for free – MTN Executive predicts { 07.04.11 at 4:08 pm }: [...] a report released by Portio Research, and published by the website,Kiwanja.net, has projected that annual worldwide mobile messaging revenue will reach nearly $210 billion by the [...]
71 Abdel Hamid Abdella { 07.05.11 at 12:39 pm }: The future of mobile messaging | Build it Kenny, and they will come… http://bit.ly/iXjDhl
72 smsindustrynews { 07.07.11 at 10:13 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
73 160Characters { 07.07.11 at 10:13 am }: RT @kiwanja: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile #SMS
74 Stuart Mitchell { 07.07.11 at 10:36 am }: RT @kiwanja: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mzMGTWA #mobile #SMS
75 Darren Press { 07.07.11 at 11:28 am }: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://t.co/mdobTdz #mobile #SMS
76 Symsoft AB { 07.07.11 at 11:37 am }: RT @kiwanja: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile #SMS
77 cezar { 07.07.11 at 2:58 pm }: RT @kiwanja: If you thought SMS was dead, think again. "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging". http://is.gd/IHBd8I #mobile #SMS
78 mobiPOST { 07.08.11 at 4:17 am }: The future of mobile messaging, 10 facts you may not know about mobile messaging http://bit.ly/k1xi8y
79 Amanda Hall { 07.08.11 at 6:44 am }: The future of mobile messaging, 10 facts you may not know about mobile messaging http://bit.ly/k1xi8y
80 murat { 07.19.11 at 11:02 pm }: “MMS outperforms mobile apps and mobile music added together. In 2010, worldwide MMS traffic hit 248.7 billion MMS messages and generated massive revenues of USD 32.5 billion. To put that into perspective, MMS is bigger than mobile apps and mobile music added together, MMS is bigger than mobile gaming and mobile video added together, twice over. MMS is still a huge business, making a lot of money”

Yeah it is…for operators. I really don’t understand why I keep hearing about how much money MMS is making in comparison to apps.

Least with apps bedroom devs are making billions.
81 Mauro Accurso { 08.11.11 at 8:17 pm }: América Latina será la región donde más crecerá el email móvil http://t.co/qZfnvnm
82 Ricardo Sametband { 08.11.11 at 8:17 pm }: América Latina será la región donde más crecerá el email móvil http://t.co/qZfnvnm
83 Marina Taliberto { 08.11.11 at 8:21 pm }: RT @maccur América Latina será la región donde más crecerá el email móvil http://bit.ly/k1xi8y
84 Sebastian Kaplun { 08.11.11 at 8:25 pm }: América Latina será la región donde más crecerá el email móvil http://t.co/qZfnvnm
85 Charles Baker { 08.18.11 at 8:37 am }: "10 Facts You May Not Know About Mobile Messaging" http://t.co/E3GjIFd #SMS #mobile (RT @kiwanja)
86 Leon Pulman { 12.18.11 at 5:25 pm }: SMS is here to stay – RT @TopsyRT: The future of mobile messaging http://t.co/RF3XUHWT