SMS (text messaging) revenue is on the decline worldwide and while messaging services including Apple’s iMessage and Blackberry Messenger have caused those declines in years past, the newest and possibly the most costly platform appears to be Facebook and the Facebook Messaging platform.
According to a report released by market research firm Strand Consult:
“If you look at how most operators market and sell SMS, you will see that most operators charge the customer for each individual SMS he or she sends. In practice this means that the customer has a choice between sending an SMS that the customer knows costs money, or alternatively use his flat rate data subscription to write a message via Facebook if the recipient is on Facebook.”
Facebook recently reported that it has reached more than 901 million users with 425 million Facebook users using mobile phones.
According to Strand Consult:
“In many ways one can compare Facebook’s development in the mobile industry to how the Internet affected the media industry. Market players like Google, Skype, Twitter and MSN are only marginally important to the mobile industry compared to Facebook.” Strand Consult added, “The biggest difference between Facebook and Google is that Facebook is a communication tool that people use to keep in touch with their family and friends every day.”
Some areas have seen lesser declines, specifically the United States and Denmark where carriers tend to sell more monthly text-messaging bundles over cost-per-message plans.
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