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News
Issue #2001 - 42
(October 2001)
(Updated Oct.
17, 2001)
MARKET OUTLOOK
& TRENDS
European M-Commerce Market Toppling $50-Billion by 2006, study
says
The mobile commerce market
could easily topple $50-billion in Europe, but not without a
consolidated effort by the industry to act quickly to promote
content and service creation, warns the Boston-based Yankee Group.
In its new report, ‘Mobile Commerce in Europe: Premium Content
Remains the Priority, the research firm highlights the importance of
premium content services for the next generation of wireless
networks as viable alternative payment platforms.
"Far too often, we have heard the term m-commerce used to
describe just about any new mobile data application. This has only
served to blur the vision of true m-commerce services and their
market potential, as well as to confuse all industry players looking
to carve out a slice of the m-commerce revenue opportunity,"
says Declan Lonergan, director of European wireless research and
consulting at the Yankee Group.
To add clarity, Mr. Lonergan goes on to say that the research
firm "has developed a more rigorous definition" that
segments the market into three areas: Premium Content, Remote
Payment and Local (Point-of-Sale) Applications.
The international research firm found that Premium Content
represents by far the largest and most immediate revenue
opportunity, generating over 75 percent of all m-commerce
transaction revenues by 2006.
Mr. Longergan says, "we believe m-commerce does have a
bright future in Europe, but only if the region’s mobile operators
realize soon the essential role that third-party applications and
content companies will play in shaping the industry’s future.
For more information: http://www.yankeegroup.com
Mobileinfo Comments & Advisory: We
agree with Yankee Group's method of defining mobile commerce in a
more restrictive manner. Europe will very likely lead North America
in m-commerce for a variety of reasons. Delivery of premium content
through wireless networks may offer immediate revenue opportunity
but what is not clear to us is whether carriers understand that
without a well-identified pricing model, this can remain a figment
of market research company's imagination. What we are saying is that
pricing of premium content must be either very affordable or must
provide real additional value for which the users will pay a premium
fee for delivery of the content - anywhere, any time.
Note: This news release may contain
forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in
developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology
architectures. All trademarks used in this summary are
the property of their respective owners.
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