Strategy Analytics: Global mobile media market to reach $150 billion in 2012

April 21, 2012 Global consumer spending on smartphone media content, apps and services exceeded the $100 billion mark for the first time in 2011. According to the latest global mobile media forecast report released by Strategy Analytics, global consumer spending on mobile media will increase by 13.4%, from $121.8 billion in 2011 to $138.2 billion in 2012.

In addition, the amount of money advertisers spend on mobile media is expected to grow rapidly, from $6.3 billion to $11.6 billion, an increase of 85.4%. This will bring the total amount of the entire mobile media market to $149.8 billion in 2012, an increase of 17% over last year.

Consumers' spending on data transmission and web browsing accounted for 60.2% of the total, making mobile operators' profits lucrative, and it is expected to reach 82.8 billion US dollars this year. However, a key driving force for the growth of the entire market is the smartphone APP store. According to statistics, the number of global APP downloads exceeded 23 billion times in 2011, and this number will reach 32 billion times in 2012, an increase of 38%. APP has now become the second largest source of income. Consumers and advertisers spend a lot on this aspect, and it has gradually become an important channel for major media to publish content on smartphones.

In 2012, APPs are expected to account for 18.9% of global consumer spending, reaching $26.1 billion, a 30.7% increase from 2011. However, Strategy Analytics said that in the entire APP ecosystem, advertisers' spending should not be ignored. For example, the United States and major Western European countries earned $934.5 million in display advertising on mobile web pages, while the revenue from in-APP advertising reached $1.7 billion.

Analysts said that advertisers prefer media that can attract consumers' attention, and APP can significantly increase consumers' participation in advertising, so brand manufacturers are more willing to pay for APP built-in advertising. In the minds of many advertisers, browsing the web with smartphones is obviously not comparable to APP.

In addition, according to David MacQueen, director of wireless media strategies at Strategy Analytics, although music has been slow to grow, it remains the largest or second largest form of mobile media, accounting for 11.6% of total consumer spending in 2012, reaching $16 billion. However, the way consumers listen to and pay for music has changed. Mobile ringtones are gradually declining, while streaming music services such as Spotify, Pandora and Deezer are becoming more popular with consumers in Western Europe and the United States, and they mainly pay music companies through subscriptions and advertising.

Like apps, mobile video is growing rapidly. In 2011, consumers watched 108 billion videos on their smartphones, a number that will soar to 280 billion in 2012. However, unlike apps, mobile video does not generate much revenue. Despite revenue growth of 23.8%, video revenue is expected to account for only 2.4% of all mobile media revenue in 2012.

McQueen said: “The lower revenues are because mainstream video services are now free to the end user, either rely on advertising to generate cash flow, or are only offered as a ‘bundle’ service by some pay-TV providers. Despite the large user base of video (271 million people), advertising revenues from mobile video are small, only $223 million globally in 2011. The situation may improve slightly in 2012, with revenues expected to reach $726 million, but it will still be challenging for advertisers to attract consumers through video on smartphones.