Not Just Yet!
Americans may have to wait a little longer for the mobile porn revolution.
BASINGSTOKE, England - Adult content on cell phones and other portable devices is anticipated to hit $1 billion in worldwide revenues during 2005, according to market research firm Juniper Research, which says North American porn fans in general and American porn fans in particular will likely be responsible for a $400 million revenue boost by the end of the 21st century's first decade.
In a white paper titled "Adult To Mobile: Personal Services", Juniper analyst Dr. Windsor Holden said that, since adult entertainment is so often a market driver for new technology and "new channels to market", mobile entertainment shouldn't be any different.
"With the industry already worth such a lot of money, and given the physiological drivers behind the use of such content," Holden wrote, "it is difficult to believe that there will not be a market for adult services through the mobile channel."
But Holden also cautioned that, as his research suggested, the Adult entertainment industry itself isn't unified in terms of how it sees the role of mobile porn down the road apiece. He wrote his research found some operators see mobile porn as just a way to add more value to their existing content media like DVDs, magazines, and desktop Websites, while others who do see mobile phones as a viable platform for primary image or video viewing.
"In either event," he continued, "there is... a strong market for Adult to mobile services in most regions, and alongside games and infotainment, Adult will be one of the leading content types that will drive the initial use of mobile entertainment devices."
The Juniper report said a 50 percent hike in mobile porn revenues for 2005 over 2004 is likeliest to come from Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions, but by 2009 the world mobile porn market could well enough hit $2.1 billion.
The American market, Holden wrote, is limited for now because wireless carriers are reluctant to offer Adult entertainment for fear of either consumer or regulatory backlash, but he said other regions face the same problems to an even greater extent than even the U.S. might be seen to face under a second Bush Administration and Republican Party-majority Congress.
"Quite clearly regulatory and cultural issues will limit the extent to which Adult services proliferate: in many Middle Eastern countries, for example, possession of even softcore pornography is a criminal offense, and is likely to remain so for the forseseeable future," Holden wrote.
"Furthermore... there is virtually no free adult content available via mobile wireless," he continued, "and accordingly those seeking to acquire it must engage in some form of commercial transaction – which could be traced.... This is also likely to be the case in (amongst others) China, India, and Pakistan, thereby limiting the potential for growth in the Asia-Pacific region."
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