2006 opened with the ringtone industry coming out of temporary insanity brought about by Crazy Frog, and ended with a whimper. According to M:Metrics, while ringtone purchasing declined in Europe and leveled out in the U.S. market, a new star was rising: the ringback tone.
The mobile measurement firm found that ringbacks have grown most aggressively in the United States, at a rate of 225 percent from the quarter ended January to the quarter ended November. Ringback subscriptions grew across Europe, at a rate of 150 percent Germany and 146 percent in the U.K. during the same period. Between July and November, ringbacks grew 12.8 percent in France and 11 percent in Spain.
Mobile Subscribers that Purchased Ringtone in Past Month 2006 (Three Month Average Ended in Month)
| Country | JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 10.0% | 10.0% | 9.9% | 9.7% | 9.9% | 10.0% | 10.4% | 10.4% | 9.5% | 9.0% | 8.9% |
| United Kingdom | 6.8% | 6.5% | 6.3% | 6.4% | 6.0% | 5.7% | 5.4% | 5.6% | 5.5% | 5.3% | 5.1% |
| Germany | 7.3% | 7.5% | 7.2% | 6.9% | 6.8% | 6.5% | 6.6% | 6.4% | 5.9% | 5.3% | 4.7% |
| France | 6.8% | 6.5% | 6.0% | 6.2% | 6.0% | 5.9% | 5.5% | 5.4% | |||
| Spain | 8.0% | 8.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% | 8.7% | 8.4% | |||||
| Italy | 6.3% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 6.0% |
Mobile Subscribers With Ringback Subscriptions in Previous Month 2006 (Three Month Average Ended in Month)
| Country | JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1.3% | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 2.4% | 3.0% | 3.7% | 3.8% | 4.0% | 3.9% | 3.8% |
| United Kingdom | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| Germany | 0.7% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.6% |
| France | 2.3% | 2.2% | 2.1% | 2.3% | 2.3% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2.5% | |||
| Spain | 9.7% | 9.9% | 10.5% | 10.0% | 10.4% |
"The rise in ringbacks indicates that personalization remains an important motivation for mobile content purchases," said Jen Wu, entertainment analyst at M:Metrics. "While we see a decrease in ringtone purchases, we do see an increase in user-created ringtones. Since it's impossible to hack a ringback tone, this growing market is not threatened by piracy and end-user savvy."
In fact, the firm found that the number of users who say they made their own ringtone grew from 11.3 percent in May to 12.3 in November in Germany, from 10.2 to 12.6 percent in France, from 17.1 percent to 19.1 percent in the UK and from 5.1 percent in to 6.6 percent in the U.S., during the same period. In Spain, 9.3 percent of mobile subscribers created their own ringtone in June, more than doubling to 19.7 percent in November. Italian subscribers account for the largest percentage of ringtone creators. In August, 19.2 percent created their own ringtone, growing to 20.4 percent in November.
Below are the findings of its November Benchmark Survey.
French Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
| Activity | Subscribers (1000s) | Pct | Pct Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sent Text Message | 30,651 | 70.5% | 0.5% |
| Used Photo Messaging | 9,013 | 20.7% | (0.2%) |
| Browsed News and Information | 3,566 | 8.2% | (4.3%) |
| Used Personal E-Mail | 2,731 | 6.3% | 2.7% |
| Purchased Ringtone | 2,346 | 5.4% | (1.6%) |
| Used Mobile Instant Messenger | 1,364 | 3.1% | 0.9% |
| Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver | 1,007 | 2.3% | (6.7%) |
| Used Work E-Mail | 955 | 2.2% | 6.4% |
| Downloaded Mobile Game | 577 | 1.3% | 8.0% |
German Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
| Activity | Subscribers (1000s) | Pct | Pct Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sent Text Message | 36,522 | 80.3% | 0.2% |
| Used Photo Messaging | 9,355 | 20.6% | (1.3%) |
| Used Personal E-Mail | 2,769 | 6.1% | 4.3% |
| Purchased Ringtone | 2,138 | 4.7% | (10.2%) |
| Browsed News and Information | 1,526 | 3.4% | (1.1%) |
| Used Mobile Instant Messenger | 1,374 | 3.0% | 10.2% |
| Used Work E-Mail | 1,268 | 2.8% | 9.5% |
| Downloaded Mobile Game | 1,177 | 2.6% | 1.0% |
| Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver | 921 | 2.0% | (6.3%) |
Italian Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
| Activity | Subscribers (1000s) | Pct | Pct Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sent Text Message | 36,957 | 85.0% | 3.3% |
| Used Photo Messaging | 13,322 | 30.6% | (0.3%) |
| Used Personal E-Mail | 3,998 | 9.2% | 3.0% |
| Browsed News and Information | 3,074 | 7.1% | 7.4% |
| Purchased Ringtone | 2,596 | 6.0% | 4.7% |
| Used Mobile Instant Messenger | 2,560 | 5.9% | 7.1% |
| Used Work E-Mail | 2,011 | 4.6% | 3.4% |
| Downloaded Mobile Game | 1,662 | 3.8% | 8.4% |
| Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver | 1,305 | 3.0% | 10.2% |
Spanish Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
| Activity | Subscribers (1000s) | Pct | Pct Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sent Text Message | 26,174 | 84.4% | 1.5% |
| Used Photo Messaging | 8,771 | 28.3% | (2.6%) |
| Used Personal E-Mail | 2,910 | 9.4% | (3.4%) |
| Purchased Ringtone | 2,598 | 8.4% | (2.5%) |
| Used Mobile Instant Messenger | 2,286 | 7.4% | (1.8%) |
| Browsed News and Information | 2,136 | 6.9% | (3.4%) |
| Used Work E-Mail | 1,733 | 5.6% | 2.6% |
| Downloaded Mobile Game | 1,598 | 5.2% | 3.8% |
| Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver | 1,028 | 3.3% | (0.5%) |
UK Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
| Activity | Subscribers (1000s) | Pct | Pct Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sent Text Message | 37,956 | 86.3% | 1.3% |
| Used Photo Messaging | 13,204 | 30.0% | (1.1%) |
| Browsed News and Information | 6,339 | 14.4% | 2.0% |
| Used Personal E-Mail | 3,071 | 7.0% | 9.4% |
| Purchased Ringtone | 2,248 | 5.1% | (3.1%) |
| Downloaded Mobile Game | 2,061 | 4.7% | 5.6% |
| Used Mobile Instant Messenger | 1,843 | 4.2% | 6.8% |
| Used Work E-Mail | 1,635 | 3.7% | 10.4% |
| Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver | 926 | 2.1% | (3.1%) |
USA Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications
| Activity | Subscribers (1000s) | Pct | Pct Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sent Text Message | 76,814 | 38.4% | 2.4% |
| Used Photo Messaging | 29,797 | 14.9% | 2.4% |
| Browsed News and Information | 21,312 | 10.7% | (4.5%) |
| Purchased Ringtone | 17,795 | 8.9% | 1.7% |
| Used Personal E-Mail | 16,727 | 8.4% | (2.3%) |
| Used Mobile Instant Messenger | 12,772 | 6.4% | (10.1%) |
| Used Work E-Mail | 9,997 | 5.0% | (1.7%) |
| Downloaded Mobile Game | 7,347 | 3.7% | 8.4% |
| Purchased Wallpaper or Screensaver | 5,912 | 3.0% | 0.8% |
Posted to the site on 22nd January 2007
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/21506.php