Mobile e-commerce payment processors make US$1.1bn


13 May 2008

Mobile e-commerce service providers earned US$1.1bn in 2007, analyst firm MultiMedia Intelligence has said.

Digital commerce service providers process the financial transactions that monetise premium content from music, video and gaming companies over the mobile operator’s network.

By 2012, the market for mobile digital commerce services will grow to US$1.9bn, according to MultiMedia Intelligence.

It said that although digital commerce service providers percentage share of the premium content market will decline, growth in new premium content categories will grow the overall market, with video driving the majority of new growth.

“Leading digital commerce services companies are turning the art of mobile content sales into a science,” commented Frank Dickson, chief research officer, MultiMedia Intelligence.

“However, there is a long way to go. Competitive differentiation relies on robust, transparent and instantaneous reporting, better transaction validation and better automation.”

MultiMedia’s research also found that revenue leakage is still an industry-wide problem across all geographic locations, especially in the off-deck space.

It also found that digital commerce services companies are highly regionalised, with digital commerce companies heavily entrenched within the regional operators.

By Niall Byrne