Mobile Content v Web Content
Patrick Parodi, Chairman of the MEF, has claimed some interesting figures reports MobHappy.
–Worldwide size of the mobile content market: $20 billion
–Worldwide size of the internet content market: $4 billion
I have no idea where he got those figures and whether he is refering to all forms of content (ie, including ad-supported content) but it shows the size of the market. It’s mostly ringtones, of course…
It's not clear either if online digital music sales are included… seems to me that these sales are excluded, and so the internet content market is greately underestimated. + in a lot of cases people are billed via mobile, but still get their content on the internet.
It's no surprise here. The web is chucked full of free content and people aren't as willing to pay for content. On the mobile side it has been kept tightly controlled and the majority of people wouldn't know how to get free content on their phone if they could get it. Verizon hasn't helped by shutting off bluetooth transfer of content to the phone. You have to buy a kit or you have to buy their content. So, it's no surprise that mobile sells more than web, whether these are the actual numbers is the only question.