MobileWebsiteWatch

The phone carrier cash cow that is SMS is still booming reports ABI Research. What’s more, the uses of SMS to increase the marketing and transactional reach of companies is going right through the roof with it. According to the study:

• SMS will continue to maintain its lead as the highest revenue generator across all messaging categories, providing global service revenues of $177 billion in 2013(projection)
• SMS to garner 83% of All Mobile Messaging Revenues through 2013(projection)

“Innovative companies are exploring opportunities for expanding mobile messaging access to Web sites as well as targeting customers with content and ads,” says principal analyst Dan Shey.

With more than half the world using mobile phones, mobile messaging is growing at an explosive pace and will continue to do so in the near future. Both entrenched companies and new entrants are providing applications that blur the lines between the traditional mobile messaging applications. New and improved hardware, software, and services are increasing customer choices while bringing down costs. Players in this market are constantly challenged to evolve and look for new revenue streams. The ABI study explores both supply and demand drivers pushing the use and functionality of mobile messaging applications . It examines demographic-specific drivers, and delves into the rising use of social networking sites, blogs, and Web 2.0 applications that are expanding to mobile phones.

Of course, SMS and the mobile web are heavily intertwined, and in a world of ever increasing customer mobility, overall productivity and sales boosts to companies will be achieved best by allowing the customer to interact with the service in anyway that suits them.