SMS Market Continues to Grow, As Industry Searches for Successor
A total of 936 billion SMS text messages were sent in 2005, according to Gartner, which expects the number to top 1.2 trillion this year and reach 2.3 trillion in 2010.
“Nobody could have could have predicted the phenomenal success of SMS and the race is on to find its successor,” commented analyst, Nick Ingelbrecht. “Without a doubt new services are needed, but a clear leader has yet to emerge from the messaging services currently being deployed
such as mobile IM (instant messaging), video messaging, mobile email and unified and integrated messaging.”
To live up to the legacy of SMS, however, these newer more advanced services will need to capitalize on the same amazingly simple and deceptively cheap pricing model, without adding too many frilly extras that could confuse customers.
Above all, “mobile operators and vendors should invest in educating customers on how to use new messaging services,” said Gartner’s principle research analyst, Stephanie Pittet. “This is critical for service adoption, and can give a competitive advantage to those companies prepared to reach out to mobile users.”