Paid Content More Successful on Mobile than on the PC

A new report released from Jupiter MMXI shows that by 2006 European consumers will spend €3.3 billion for content on their mobile phones, compared to €1.7 billion on their PCs.

At present almost all content is free online and companies haven't been able to charge consumers for it. Adult sites are currently the only type of online business that generate significant income from paid content. Of the €252 million spent on content by Western European Internet users in 2001, 70% was spent on adult content, with the rest being generated mainly from games, finance and business news.

While media businesses are launching paid content initiatives across Europe, consumers are still very reluctant to pay for content on their PC. According to a Jupiter MMXI survey 47% of European web users would not even consider paying for content on the PC Internet in the future. However, 16% of Europeans would consider paying for music online, a much higher percentage than other categories.

Jupiter MMXI predicts that the majority of future consumer spending on paid content will come from broadband-related content that benefits from faster speed and 'always on' features. 67% percent of total European paid content spending will come from music, gaming, and online video in 2006.

However, the vast majority of the Internet will remain free and there won't be a dramatic shift from a free to a paid Internet, especially among narrowband users. The only companies that will generate solid paid content revenues on the PC will be the ones that offer entertainment related content.

Mobile phones are seen by Jupiter as a much better billing platform than the PC. In 2001, €590 million was spent by Europeans for content on their mobile phones, such as ring tones, logos, sports scores and stock prices. This is almost twice the €252 million spent on the PC.

By 2006, Jupiter MMXI estimates that consumers will spend €3.3 billion for content on mobile phones, compared to €1.7 billion on PCs. Future content available through mobiles will include enhanced ring tones and logos, multimedia alerts (with audio and images), and electronic greeting cards. Electronic greeting cards will remain a popular, mostly free service on the web, but consumers will actually pay for them on their mobile phones, as they have been paying for ringtones and logo downloads over the last 18 months.

'Increasing usage of Short Messaging Service on mobile phones is good news for the media industry. Newspapers and magazines struggling to generate direct consumer revenues from their websites have more opportunity to charge for content on mobile phones. They should use their Web presence as a way to promote mobile content with which they will be able to generate more revenues', concludes Olivier Beauvillain, author of the report.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.