mobileentertainment's Podcast

The upbeat projections from analysts continue for the growth of 3G and mobile entertainment services. Now a new report from Analysys gives a ray of sunshine to a difficult moment in the industry as consolidation and flat mobile game sales are starting to rain on the parade.

The Western European mobile market is forecast to grow by more than 6% per year to reach EUR198.4 billion in 2011, according to a new report, The Western European Mobile Market: trends and forecasts 2006 to 2011, published by Analysys, the global advisers on telecoms, IT and media. With mobile penetration close to saturation, growth will primarily be driven by rich-media services including music and television.

"We are now seeing a rapid acceleration in the number of full-track downloads and in streamed TV usage," says report author Dr Windsor Holden. "Subscribers are becoming more familiar and comfortable accessing both on and off-portal content; as mobile broadband becomes more prevalent this growth is likely to continue." Holden adds that that the longer term prospects for voice revenues are also encouraging. Total mobile services revenue is forecast to grow at a compound average growth rate of 6.2% from EUR138.4 billion in 2005 to EUR198.4 billion in 2011

Read more here.

You have probably heard about the huge success of the LG "Chocolate" phone. Which has officially shipped more than a million units. There has absolutely been a rush on this phone in the UK (similar to what happened with the Razr). This confirms again what we are seeing is the mobile phone as a true pop culture product, where the looks of the phone and what that look says about you is such a strong motivation, that you are willing to go through such an incredible about of effort to make that statement. In this phone's case, that effort is not only in the form of going to the phone shop and paying through the nose for example, $550 in the UK online as of today (£300), then transferring all your phone numbers and data, giving up all your downloaded games and ringtones and trying to figure out what must be for most European customers, a very foreign LG user interface and software. What do they do this? A quote from Saudi Arabia hits the nail on the head (except for the "affordable" part...):

"Modern buying trends are governed as much by emotion as by product specification and the LG Chocolate phone connects on both levels. It is totally unique, very desirable and yet affordable" said C K Cho, GM of LG Saudi Arabia.

Some are claiming the LG Chocolate a success of form over function. LG certainly should be congratulated for having a hit like this, opening up a new level for them in Europe. I was very impressed by the adventurous spirit of their overall design at GSM world in Barcelona. But there has been some brutal online trashing of the phone's UI and functionality. But the point I want to make is this: if a slick look and red glowing buttons will sell a million (or two or three or ten) five-hundred dollar handsets, what would a cool addictive content service do that was available ONLY for that phone? Why wasn't there an awesome download video service or other exclusive interactive and addictive content service that reflected the same feel and appeal of the design? I'm not talking about a fat content licensing deal or putting movie trailers or repurposing TV shows, I'm talking about a mobile-centric, ORIGINAL service that is AS CREATIVE AS THE DESIGN OF THE PHONE ITSELF. Remember, this is a Pop Culture product, and I think the day has come to see the complete product as one thing - so what the phone can DO for the customer is just as cool as it LOOKS.

See Chocolate links to reviews and photos here:

asia.cnet.com

consuming experience

chocolate.lgbloggers

slashphone

strategiy.com

If you have not yet felt the ill wind of change on your back, you will. It appears that the Mobile Entertainment business, and mobile data services industry in general have entered a period of flat sales and industry re-evaluation, navel-gazing, teeth-gnashing and finger pointing.

THE END OF THE BEGINNING

Is this the end of the boom-time hype-athon about mobile data sales? How can things be slowing down when smart phone sales are growing at a great rate? Why do the the MVNO's seem so BORING? What is wrong with the marketing, UI and WHY is the DESIRE waning? Why has mobile entertainment development not created that next-stage ADDICTION service we all have been expecting?

And when did we first step foot out into the desert?

Maybe it started when Graeme Ferguson of Vodafone called most mobile games "crap" or maybe it was EA's flip-floppy announcements about creating "off the deck" opportunities for itself, to the stories that Verizon and other carriers were "cracking down" on heavy data users and on and on... it seems like a major funk is coming on.

I have some theories about why this is happening which I will blather on about in a future post, but I wanted mainly to point out another blog I like that is discussing this. You should check out "Mobile Opportunity" by Michael Mace (http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/).

There are 2 recent posts worth looking at, "Why are Mobile Application Sales Dropping?" (WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2006) and "Trouble with a 3G Smart Phone" (WEDNESDAY, JUNE 07, 2006). The first is interesting but I think, not specific to us in the Mobile Entertainment biz, but the June 7th post however is a "must read". A blistering critique of a new Sprint EVDO phone + service (phone by Samsung). This detailed report about the trials and tribulations of using the phone and service is ABSOLUTELY SMASH ENTERTAINMENT and Mace says many things about the way operators develop services that many of us think, but prefer to keep to ourselves. Enjoy. http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/

(FROM MOCO NET NEWS) The Wall Street Journal has a detailed account of the Italian mobile TV sector, with a suggestion that this could be a good model to follow in other countries because the broadcaster and (two) operators are working together. Of course, it requires that the respective companies be willing to do what the Italian companies did... "Mediaset, controlled by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, owns the frequencies over which Italy's DVB-H signals are transmitted. The company leases a portion of the network to Telecom Italia and Vodafone. More importantly, Mediaset provides a broad menu of cellphone-formatted video channels that the mobile operators can offer their customers. Operators have the option of finding their own content as well...The model enables both sides to retain their most important assets: The operators still have their relationship with their cellphone customers; the broadcaster still is the main source for content and keeps its relationship with its advertisers." Mediaset spent Euro 250 million ($321.7 million) rolling out its DVB-H network and leases 25% of the network for Euro 75 million for a five-year lease, an offer taken up by Telecom Italia and Vodafone. That's slightly more than the cost of the network, but assumes that Mediaset has plans to utilize the other half in some way. In contrast, Hutchison decided to build its own network to launch mobile TV, arguing that it had to differentiate itself from its two bigger competitors. Hutch spent Euro 220 million on the network and supplying its own content could cost it another Euro 10 million a year -- but it will launch first. Hutch loves that first mover advantage. The need to provide its own content explains the purchase of a TV station at the end of last year. As a sidenote, Orange found that users of its mobile video service "snack" on the content, watching 2-3 minutes at a time, whereas trials with DVB-H technology showed that users stayed tuned for an average of 16 minutes.

China is at an interesting spot in terms of mobile content. It is getting ready to move beyond the highly successful text services popular with millions of consumers. Ringtones are booming and new entertainment applications, games and multimedia are bursting on the scene. China Mobile rules it all with a firm hand. And over and baby-brother China Unicom, BREW subscribers continue to grow. Where it will go is anyone's guess, because China will be China, not an imitation of Japan or Korea. WAP seems to be on the upswing, with subscription services in some cases reaching 200,000+ members, paying 20 to 35 cents a month (USD). Taiwan and Hong Kong are both interesting markets to watch, partly because of the competition between multiple carriers going after a small audience and because of the mix of services (3G, i-Mode, etc.). Photo taken near Shanghai Airport, after I missed my flight home and had to wait another day (typical!!). Actually if you look close, she is talking on a land-line phone... but I like the photo...

WPWDVC? (Which Phone Would Darth Vader Choose?)