Mobile Phone Porn Set for Sales Spike
AMSTERDAM - Mobile phone users around the world spent $400 million on pornographic pictures and video in 2004, an amount that is expected to rise to $5 billion by 2010, despite the tiny screen sizes, a survey found on Thursday.
The adult entertainment sector was one of the first media industries to take advantage of the World Wide Web, and its customers were the among the first to get high-speed Internet access for downloading X-rated films.
In mobile communications, however, pornography might not do as well as on the fixed-line Internet, because the screens are small and download prices charged by telecoms operators are high, research group Strategy Analytics said in a report.
"In 2010 we estimate that expenditure on mobile adult content will represent just 5 percent of total end-user spend on mobile content services," said analyst Nitesh Patel.
"We expect services that are built around sports, music and media to perform better, because they appeal to a wider audience of users," he added. In addition, there is value in offering news bulletins or a recently scored goal on a mobile screen.
Still, the $5 billion in porn revenues by 2010 is $4 billion more than Strategy Analytics had forecast until recently. It has upgraded its estimates, because adult entertainment businesses are aggressively building services, and customers are buying.
Playboy and rival Private Media Group have geared up their offerings, and many mobile phone makers are busy implementing strategies to make sure no subscribers aged under 18 years will be able to access x-rated services.
In addition, one in every two phones sold in 2005 had bright color screens, which will rise to four out of five by 2010.
In the meantime, anecdotal evidence from countries that have a technological edge shows interest from consumers. South Korea's SK Telecom said in late 2003 that 23 percent of the traffic over its higher speed mobile network was adult content.
AMSTERDAM - Mobile phone users around the world spent $400 million on pornographic pictures and video in 2004, an amount that is expected to rise to $5 billion by 2010, despite the tiny screen sizes, a survey found on Thursday.
The adult entertainment sector was one of the first media industries to take advantage of the World Wide Web, and its customers were the among the first to get high-speed Internet access for downloading X-rated films.
In mobile communications, however, pornography might not do as well as on the fixed-line Internet, because the screens are small and download prices charged by telecoms operators are high, research group Strategy Analytics said in a report.
"In 2010 we estimate that expenditure on mobile adult content will represent just 5 percent of total end-user spend on mobile content services," said analyst Nitesh Patel.
"We expect services that are built around sports, music and media to perform better, because they appeal to a wider audience of users," he added. In addition, there is value in offering news bulletins or a recently scored goal on a mobile screen.
Still, the $5 billion in porn revenues by 2010 is $4 billion more than Strategy Analytics had forecast until recently. It has upgraded its estimates, because adult entertainment businesses are aggressively building services, and customers are buying.
Playboy and rival Private Media Group have geared up their offerings, and many mobile phone makers are busy implementing strategies to make sure no subscribers aged under 18 years will be able to access x-rated services.
In addition, one in every two phones sold in 2005 had bright color screens, which will rise to four out of five by 2010.
In the meantime, anecdotal evidence from countries that have a technological edge shows interest from consumers. South Korea's SK Telecom said in late 2003 that 23 percent of the traffic over its higher speed mobile network was adult content.
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