Ringtone Growth Headed For Slowdown: iSuppli

by Tameka Kee, Friday, Jul 13, 2007 6:00 AM ET

BY 2011, RINGTONE SALES IN the U.S. will be down by more than 20%, according to a report from iSuppli. The market intelligence firm found that the global market for premium mobile content (including music, video, games, graphics and adult material) will reach $44 billion in four years. But the growth will be largely driven by video--as ringtone growth will slow worldwide. Ringtones have been a strong revenue stream, both for mobile service providers and music companies alike. But according to iSuppli, the Asian and European markets are maturing--and although the U.S. will remain one of the top five markets for ringtones in the next four years, the numbers point to a stateside growth slowdown as well. U.S. ringtone sales are predicted to reach more than $700 million this year--but that's only a 10% increase from last year, compared to a 34% increase from 2005 to 2006. While single-digit growth is slated to continue for the next two years, iSuppli is actually forecasting a decrease in growth starting in 2010. And four years from now, the firm has slated ringtone sales to dip by 21%, a statistic some analysts say may point to the fact that consumers won't need ringtones--as more handsets will feature integrated digital music players. Link to MediaPost Article