MGI Research: The decline in SMS business in many parts of the world is due to the impact of Internet services

According to the latest statistics on January 2, 2012, the number of text messages sent by mobile phones in many countries and regions around the world has continued to decline.

Tero Kuittinen, a senior analyst at market research firm MGI Research, said in a blog on the Forbes magazine website that the number of text messages sent on Christmas Eve in Finland dropped sharply, which should be the busiest time for text messages. Users of Finnish mobile operator Sonera sent 8.5 million text messages on Christmas Eve this year, a significant drop from 10.9 million in the same period last year. In addition, Kuittinen also cited data from the Finnish National Broadcasting Corporation, saying that the number of text messages sent on Christmas Eve by another Finnish operator DNA was also decreasing, from 5.9 million in the same period last year to 5.6 million this year.

Kutinen also said that the number of text messages sent in Hong Kong on Christmas Day also plummeted, down 14% from the same period last year. According to independent blogger Richard Blundell, who combined data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and operator Telstra, the number of text messages sent in Australia during the Christmas period also decreased by 9% year-on-year.

Analysts believe that services such as Facebook, Twitter, BlackBerry Messenger and iMessage, which allow customers to send messages for free using their phone's Internet connection, may be the reason for the continued decline in text messaging.