Mercator Advisory Group is pleased to announce the release of its latest report, Online and Mobile Digital Content Markets. For payments professionals at financial institutions, payment processors and others needing to understand the digital content supply chain, this new report frames the challenges and opportunities posed by digital content across multiple distribution channels and as advertising or paid content.
Boston, MA (PRWEB) June 24, 2007 -- Mercator Advisory Group is pleased to announce the release of its latest report, Online and Mobile Digital Content Markets.
For payments professionals at financial institutions, payment processors and others needing to understand the digital content supply chain, this new report frames the challenges and opportunities posed by digital content across multiple distribution channels and as advertising or paid content.
In particular, the report examines the types of digital content delivered over cable, fixed Internet and wireless networks including music, audio, video, TV, and games. The market for each varies strongly with the distribution channel. The combination of channel and content type determines the go-to-market opportunity as well as the technical constraints and data formatting required to deliver a positive consumer experience.
The report discusses the digital content market activities of such new and significant participants in this evolving ecosystem such as Apple, Joost, MuchMusic, Google, Microsoft, Audible.com, Netflix, Blizzard Entertainment and more.
Highlights of the report include:
- Digital content markets are growing rapidly across the globe with some reports putting the global mobile digital content market at $31b and the online digital content market at $25b. By 2001, the combination of digital advertising and paid digital content will exceed $137 billion with a CAGR of 21%.
- Digital content owners and distributors are recovering a measure of control over their products. While music piracy - both online and offline - continues to plague the industry, online piracy via illegal file swapping is dropping somewhat in the US.
- The iTunes closed loop system will approach $1.8 billion in paid digital content sales in 2007.
- Good news for content owners: users of iTunes and Napster are showing a higher willingness to pay for digital content.
- Closed loop content systems such as cable TV and satellite radio do not have the revenue leakage.
- Mobile network operators will continue to see slow growth in mobile music sales due to high content prices and slow access speeds.
The global digital content market for advertising and paid content will be $138 Billion by 2011.
Demonstrating the shift in power toward distributors, Apple's iTunes will generate $1.8 Billion in sales this year and this is the narrow margin portion of it's "iPlatform" business of iTunes, iPods and, now, the iPhone.
The mobile distribution channel is growing in value because of exploding subscriber numbers and tight mobile operator control over content delivery.
Given the right demographic and the right content, digital content becomes a compelling element in rewards and incentives programs, as costs are comparatively low.
Social networking platforms - both online and mobile - will give card marketers and digital content owners and distributors new tools to reach prospective customers and drive sales of both digital and physical media.
"Digital content is complex. To participate in these markets, payments professionals must be willing to target new audiences, work with new partners and wrestle with a new array of details, comments George Peabody, Director of Mercator Advisory Group's Emerging Technologies Advisory Service. "While these markets are growing fast - just look at the volume growth of iTunes - card and rewards programs involving digital content will demand the niche focus of prepaid card programs to be successful."
