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November 2, 2009
It’s 9:15 a.m., cups are full of coffee, and the awkward silence in the crowded conference room is about to be broken with an important announcement from the VP of Finance. Suddenly, from your mobile device emerges, loud and clear, the latest hit from Shakira, letting the VP and all your colleagues know that you have an incoming call. This scene is far from a corporate urban legend or even a bad dream but a common situation among mobile users around the world.
When ringtones finally reached Latin American meetings rooms, wireless operators in the region thought this pioneering mobile value-added service (VAS) would take off. However, although ringtones show an acceptable rate of adoption across Latin America (by year-end 2009, 11% of total mobile data subscribers will be ringtones users, according to our latest Latin America mobile data forecast), operators quickly realized that the economics behind the service were not that attractive. The main factors preventing ringtones from becoming a more relevant product in VAS portfolios are: Increasing competition from Internet portals, piracy concerns and, of course, revenue-sharing agreements operators have to sign with the likes of Shakira.
Ringtones may have been a quick way to add some incremental revenue for mobile voice services, but that revenue stream proved shallow. The deeper opportunities for network operators clearly lie in mobile Internet services.
Exhibit: VAS as percentage of total non-messaging data services, Latin America, 2005-2014
Source: Pyramid Research Latin America Mobile Data Forecast, Q3 2009
*Includes browsing/WAP and data cards/modems
Each quarter, Pyramid Research tracks the performance of the mobile data business in 19 markets across Latin America and the Caribbean. The increasing importance of mobile Internet in the data revenue pie is a clear trend in every single market, with the subsegment growing the fastest in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. By 2014, we estimate, mobile Internet access in Latin America will account for $16.5bn, or almost 79% of all non-messaging mobile data revenue, whereas ringtones will make up a mere 4%.
— Cesar Jimenez, Senior Analyst
Related resources:
Latin America Mobile Data Forecasts
Forecasts published quarterly
Our Mobile Data Forecast products provide complete pictures of demand trends for 19 geographical markets in Latin America. The Excel output includes five years of historical data and five years of market projections for metrics such as penetration, mobile subscriptions (by type of package, by operator or MVNO and by network technology), users of specific data services (SMS, music, etc.), MOU, ARPS (by operator, by subscription type, by service, by application) and revenue (by messaging and non-messaging applications). The Forecasts are based on extensive field research and use a consistent methodology, aiming to capture the total spending on mobile data services in each market.
Latin America Mobile Demand Forecast
Forecasts published quarterly
Our Mobile Demand Forecast products provide complete pictures of demand trends for 19 geographical markets in Latin America. The Excel output includes five years of historical data and five years of market projections for metrics such as GDP, mobile penetration, subscriptions (by operator, type of package, technology), ARPS and total mobile service revenue (data and voice). The Forecasts are based on extensive field research and use a consistent methodology across all markets, aiming to capture the total spending, from an end-user perspective, on mobile communication services in each market.
Latin America Mobile Operator KPI Forecasts
Forecasts published quarterly
Our Mobile Operator Key Performance Indicators Forecast products provide a complete picture of wireline voice and data communications in each of 19 Latin American markets. The Excel output includes five years of historical data and five years of market projections for metrics such as subscription totals, market shares, net and gross additions, prepaid and postpaid subscriptions, business subscriptions, data ARPS, aggregate ARPS, prepaid and postpaid MOU, churn and total service revenue — all broken down for the mobile operators in the respective markets. We believe our Mobile Operator KPI Forecasts are superior because they capture granular data gathered through extensive field research and use a thorough methodology consistently applied to all markets.
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Pyramid Points
