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9
May 2003 - Nokia launched the latest market research
on perceptions of existing and future Multimedia Messaging
Service (MMS) -based mobile services in the United Kingdom,
Japan, United States, Germany, Singapore and Finland.
The study, conducted in co-operation with The HPI Research
Group, showed that the majority of respondents are excited
by MMS which is set to ape the roaring success of SMS.
The
vast majority of UK respondents - three-quarters - regard
MMS as exciting. The positive expectations of users
in the UK and other surveyed countries mirror actual
mobile multimedia usage trends in Japan where these
services are more developed than in the UK and the other
four countries surveyed.
Among
the research's key findings on UK perceptions was that
the potential of downloadable picture-based services
is greater than previously thought. UK respondents expressed
great interest in downloadable services like travel
information, news, games and screensavers. The study
suggests that the popularity of these MMS-based services
will capture traditional media spend for specific services
- e.g. breaking news, travel, weather reports - from
television, the Internet and other media.
Japanese
multimedia usage illustrates how the proliferation of
MMS phones with cameras will be critical to MMS going
mass market. Amongst the Japanese respondents, over
90% of camera phone owners send multimedia messages
to other camera phones; only 68% send to email accounts.
For those sending MMS, it is important that they feel
the recipient is able to open the image and share the
moment immediately. With this in mind, Nokia has been
at the forefront of bringing MMS and camera phones to
the market globally. To date, Nokia has announced altogether
five different phones with integrated camera and more
than 15 MMS enabled color phone models.
The
study highlights that in Japan respondents generally
prefer richer types of services than those currently
available. The Japanese research also confirmed that
multimedia use is not replacing other types of mobile
services. In fact, the Japanese respondents have increased
their use of traditional mobile services since getting
their current multimedia phone, and they expect to receive
text or multimedia messages in response to multimedia
messages they send. This suggests that MMS will build
on and extend the successful SMS model that is helping
to generate revenues for operators. The Japanese experience
suggests that once MMS is adopted by users on a mass
scale, it will create demand for much richer content
services, paving the way for evolving 3G-based offerings.
The research supports Nokia's conviction that MMS will
rapidly evolve into a true mass-market technology for
both personal and professional use.
"Consumers
really want MMS and, as operators are already discovering,
people are as intrigued by and eager to use MMS as SMS.
What's really interesting is how MMS looks set to broaden
mobile communications use as a whole and support the
creation of new kinds of picture content services,"
explains Pekka Pohjakallio, Director, Mobile Internet
Solutions, Nokia Networks. "The depth of demand for
MMS services is extremely good news for the industry
and creates a consumer pull for more advanced 3G-based
services," he adds.
The
research was carried out to gain a greater understanding
of the development of the mobile data services market
and of end-user attitudes towards MMS.
The
study specifically looks at mobile data usage and perceptions
including SMS and MMS and trends in content-to-person
and person-to-person SMS and MMS services. The research
used focus groups as well as a quantitative research
element amongst 16 to 45 year old mobile phone users
who do not yet have an MMS phone. In Japan, the research
included mobile multimedia users of the same age to
ascertain how multimedia-enabled phones change mobile
communications behaviour. Users in all countries were
surveyed about their perception of MMS and its features
like photo messaging, video/audio clips and the Mobile
Internet in relation to traditional media.
Nokia
has among the wireless industry's most extensive track
record in MMS with three out of four of the UK mobile
operators and over 50 operators worldwide relying on
Nokia Networks infrastructure for creating, delivering
and developing their MMS services. Nokia is also taking
the lead in providing services to help operators facilitate
cross network MMS traffic.
SOURCE
Nokia Press Release Back
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