U.S. hot for enterprise apps; U.K. warming to mobile content

Enterprise applications are poised for impressive growth in the United States while the U.K. mobile content market is approaching a “tipping point,” according to two new reports.
Compass Intelligence L.L.C. said U.S. businesses will spend $9 billion on mobile applications by 2011, more than doubling the $3.8 billion forecast for this year. The increased sales will be spurred by a growth in productivity-based applications and devices, the firm said, as well as “a major attraction to service providers to strengthen profit margins.”
The surging revenues represent a substantial opportunity for carriers that can help deliver effective business applications, according to Stephanie Atkinson, a managing partner at Compass Intelligence.
Meanwhile, Informa Telecoms and Media said the U.K. mobile content and services market is on the cusp of becoming a multibillion-dollar industry. U.K. users rang up $1.3 billion in content sales last year, Informa said, with only about 20% of all subscribers purchasing at least one item of content every three months.
While half of all respondents said mobile content prices were too high, Informa found that $14 is a rough “optimum figure” consumers are willing to spend per month in addition to voice and messaging charges.