Mobile video to score $15B in revenue by ’12

Mobile video revenue will exceed $3.5 billion this year, driven by consumer demand for personalization and entertainment content on their mobile phones, according to new research from MultiMedia Intelligence.
By 2012, the mobile video and mobile TV market will exceed $15 billion, including direct pay and advertising, said the report.
Mobile video dominates the market today, but as mobile TV infrastructure and handsets roll out, it will lead the category by 2012, predicts the report.
“The mobile phone is inherently an inferior entertainment platform compared to other media devices like TVs,” according to Frank Dickson, Chief Research Officer at MMI. “However, the mobile handset is inherently a superior portable communications platform. It allows for TV advertising outside the home as well as enabling new forms of advertising, including ‘call to action’ advertising. Call to action leverages the handset’s built in return channel to deliver advertising beyond the capabilities of the living room TV experience.”
The report also found mobile TV ARPU is much higher in North America than in Europe or Asia due to the lack of free-to-air offerings. In addition, the report predicts mobile TV and video advertising will exceed $1 billion by 2012.