According to the 3rd edition of Juniper's report 'The Mobile Content Business Model -OTT & Operator Strategy Forecasts 2013-2017" , the revenues...." from mobile content, monetised through direct carrier billing, is expected to rise from $2bn last year to more than $13bn by 2017." The report discussess monetisation strategies, optimal content models and forecasts by billing mechanism, and provides a definitive analysis of the evolution of how mobile content is accessed, delivered and monetised. It also explores how the OTT (Over The Top) players have pushed many operator portals to the edge of extinction and forced a re-examination of player engagement.
Key Findings from the Report
"The report observed that operator storefronts and portals now accounted for just 6% of content downloads worldwide, with Google Play and Apple’s App Store now comprising nearly 70% between them. Indeed, the report noted that the increasing popularity of OTT (Over The Top) stores had led to many operators closing their own storefronts."
"...by offering carrier billing to third-party storefronts, operators could more than offset the continued decline in portal revenues. According to the report, storefronts which have already integrated carrier billing solutions have seen a 5-6x increase in conversion rates compared with credit card billing, together with an uplift in average transaction values."
"...it observed that the implementation of carrier billing allowed storefronts and developers to monetise unbanked/underbanked regions and demographics for the first time."
"While Google has surpassed Apple in terms of app downloads on an ongoing basis, monetisation levels of Android apps are markedly lower."
"Although in-app billing and freemium has become the prevalent business model, there is still a role to play for PPD (Pay Per Download)." "....cautioned that carrier billing for higher value content would be less effective amongst prepaid users given the relatively low top-up levels in most markets."
