SCOTTSDALE, AZ – About 30 million mobile subscribers around the world could be using mobile social networking services by 2012, according to a report, entitled Mobile Social Networking: Marketing to Millenials by market research firm In-Stat.
Blogging, photo and video sharing, location-based socialization services, games, SMS, and IM will eventually be combined to give mobile users the entire social networking experience from a handset application, predicts In-Stat. It sees the mobile handset becoming an extension of the user in most aspects of life.
“The critical issue most mobile social networking site and application developers struggle with is how to make money with their services,” said In-Stat analyst Jill Meyers. “There are three primary methods of revenue generation for mobile social networking applications – advertising, subscription services, and premium upgrades.”
In-Stat found that social network advertising continues to be experimental to marketers, but 2008 revenues are predicted to be over $1.5 billon.
The report also noted that the iPhone has changes mobile phone users’ expectations since it enables the least techno-savvy user to surf the Internet, download and play music, take pictures, send messages, and record videos, all on a thin, touch-screen-operated unit.
The report covers the worldwide market for mobile social networking, and includes analyses of market drivers and barriers, and forecasts of mobile social networking users worldwide through 2012.
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Note: The predicted number of mobile subscribers using mobile social networking services by the year 2012 has been changed to 30 million. The figure was originally reported as 229.5 million mobile subscribers as initially indicated by In-Stat. In-Stat has since issued a corrected figure of 30 million mobile subscribers using social networking services by 2012.
