More Disappointing Stats On Mobile Video
There have been plenty of conflicting studies on the popularity of and consumer demand for mobile TV and video services, and the latest one says that although more than a quarter of US mobile subscribers have phones that can access video services, just 1 percent actually use them. Does this sound familiar? It should, because it sounds like it’s starting to play out like so many other new mobile features carriers have pushed over the last several years, like WAP and MMS. Getting the right devices into users’ hands wasn’t a huge problem; getting them to actually use the services was. It’s likely down to a couple of the same factors: pricing issues and lack of compelling content. Current services don’t appear to be interesting enough and don’t offer enough value for the prices operators are charging. The problem isn’t necessarily small screen size, it’s that there’s nothing worth watching on them. Until the content improves significantly, pricing and small screens and whatever other factors will remain huge obstacles to consumer uptake. Even when — or if — the content gets figured out, it still remains unclear if mobile TV is something people will think is worth paying for.
