Mobile content sources are as varied as the demographics of the people accessing them, with consumers watching a mix of content obtained from the Web, personal collections and their wireless carriers, a recent consumer survey by ABI Research has found.
According to Michael Wolf, research director for ABI Research, it is because of this wide range of sources that “despite the strong control most carriers retain over the network, their control over the mobile content ecosystem remains limited. The consumer will see more and more options for obtaining rich media in the future.”
The 14 percent of respondents who said they use their phone to watch video was split nearly evenly between those who watch video from Web sites such as YouTube (35 percent), from their own carrier’s video offering (31 percent) and from video they sideload onto their mobile devices (28 percent). Music sources were also mixed: The leading source of music files on a mobile phone was ripped CDs and sideloading onto the phone (48 percent of mobile-music listening respondents), while more than one-third of music-listening respondents (35 percent) purchased music through their carriers. Preloaded content such as games were some of the most popular forms, with six in 10 mobile gamers responding that they only play the games that came with the phone.
For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.