From Greeting Cards To Ringtones
The ringtone hype is reaching new levels, as just about every company wants a piece of the ringtone business. Just because ringtones have done well so far, people think it’s a goldmine. As we’ve said before, it’s only a matter of time until the Napster for ringtones causes all sorts of problems for the industry — and they still want to keep their head in the sand. It’s not just the wireless industry, though, that refuses to learn from the past. Even though studies are coming out warning the record labels not to get too excited about ringtones, Warner Music has jumped into the fray with ridiculously priced ringtones that should only encourage people to run out and download Xingtone much faster. Even going beyond the music labels, other firms are looking to profit off the temporary trend. American Greetings has now announced plans to move into ringtones and other mobile content in a big way. They, too, seem to be ignoring history and assuming that the market will stay as overpriced as it is now. Maybe we should start taking predictions on when the ringtone bubble will burst. It’s not that people won’t keep using ringtones, but the pricing on them is reaching tulip mania levels.
