Startlingly, almost 60% of iPhone users will wait no more than 15 seconds for a video to load, according to an independent research commissioned by Openwave Mobility. The research found that poor mobile video streaming is an even bigger headache than a dropped call for iPhone users. iPhone users’ tolerance to video-buffering is rapidly disappearing with close to 40% willing to pay extra dollars for assurance on the quality of video delivery.
Over 2,000 iPhone users in the UK and US were interviewed ahead of the new iPhone launch on the 9th of September to study people’s mobile video habits. The British and American survey which was conducted by research agency Censuswide, found that nearly a fifth (19%) will abandon a video after only a 5 second wait.
With another large screen iPhone in the offing, subscribers are coming to expect seamless quality in the delivery of content and in particular video. In both countries almost 1/3 of subscribers (31%) expressed a strong view that video buffering is simply unacceptable, and video delivery by mobile operators is lagging behind the latest handset technology that is driving the industry forward.
The growing importance of Snapchat, Vine and Instagram to a younger audience was also confirmed in the survey with Millennials predictably unwilling to wait for short-form video content to load. For their parents, the Baby Boomer generation, it was the reverse. Long form video was more important to them as they catch up on the previous night’s television or an episode of their favorite series on their iPhone, and this older generation also exercised more patience.
John Giere, President and CEO of Openwave Mobility
With 39% of US and UK iPhone customers happy to pay more for a better mobile video experience, operators are leaving money on the table. Put simply, the operators working in conjunction with the industry need to improve the mobile video experience, or they will watch customers churn to competitors.
