socialmedian: Mobile Video Market Still Growing, Still Tiny

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Mobile Video Market Still Growing, Still Tiny

Source: Silicon Alley Insider

Oct 31, 2008

Summary

Mobile carriers have been trying to get subscribers to watch video on their cellphones for years, but the market is still tiny: Some 6.5 million U.S. wireless subscribers watched video on their cellphones in August, or 2.8% of the U.S. mobile market, according to comScore M:Metrics.

The good news for carriers and companies like Qualcomm (QCOM) and MobiTV, who sell mobile video services: That's up almost 50% from last December, when about 1.9% of the market watched video on their phones.

The bad news for Qualcomm and MobiTV: We think most of the growth in the market is coming from free services like the YouTube (GOOG) app built into Apple's (AAPL) iPhone -- not broadcast TV-like services that cost an extra $10-$15 a month.

Indeed, comScore says amateur video clips are the most popular -- watched by 38% of mobile video viewers -- followed by music videos, comedy videos, and movie trailers.