NEW YORK—Mobile video will generate $501 million in revenue in the United States by 2010, according to figures from JupiterResearch.
The latest study on wireless TV found that while only 2 percent of U.S. users currently subscribe to a wireless video service, 41 percent said they are interested in watching video on their handsets. Nearly one-fifth of users expressed interest in watching live broadcasts, while 11 percent said they might watch short video clips.
The study did not indicate what price users might be willing to pay for such services.
“This consumer interest bodes well for the mobile industry as vendors use different business models to try and tap into this consumer demand,” said Julie Ask, a research director at JupiterResearch. “The challenge is not interest but rather finding the correct mix of premium content and price points that is lacking in today’s offerings.”
The study contrasts with more optimistic forecasts from Europe, however, where several wireless video trials seem to have sparked substantial attention from wireless users. Nokia Corp. earlier this month hailed results from pilot efforts in four European markets, claiming 76 percent of participants in a U.K. mobile TV trial said they would subscribe to the service in the next year. Sixty-eight percent of French users said they would pay for wireless video, and 55 percent of Spanish subscribers said they would pay to watch TV on their handsets.
