Mobile gaming will be the biggest non-SMS data service earner for UK operators in 2007, says market research firm GfK.
It thinks the UK’s annual spend on mobile content is set to reach £1bn for the first time next year, an increase of over 10% on last year; most of it will come from SMS, but gaming will be worth £83m.
Not far behind are ringtones, a much-maligned and largely written-off market that GfK says will still be worth £76m in 2007. Music, videos and wallpapers are way behind, at £23m, £11m and £10m respectively.
The firm reports that consumers are increasingly downloading content straight to their phones, rather than from traditional internet sites. Twice as much money is spent on mobile entertainment bought via a WAP site (55%) than over the mainstream internet (25%).