Mobile Music, Gaming, Video To Reach $40 Billion By 2010

Mobile phone content, such as music, gaming and video, is forecast to reach $43 billion worldwide by 2010, up from $5.2 billion in 2004, according to a report released this week.

Mobile music, led by ringtones and ringtunes, represent the largest and fastest-growing content segment for wireless, forecasts research firm iSuppli Corp. said.

The transition from traditional polyphonic ringtones to ringtunes last year pushed global revenue for the music content to more than $3.8 billion.

Game developers, including Electronic Arts Inc. and THQ Inc., are focused on creating better graphic, higher-quality games.

Video offers the most significant long-term opportunity in the mobile-content market, according to Mark Kirstein, iSuppli vice president of multimedia services and content.While the market for mobile video continues to emerge, mobile music and gaming segments are thriving, as more media-enabled phones find their way into the hands of consumers. For example, there are nearly 400 million installed phones with music codecs capable of playing music, iSuppli said.

Growth in the mobile TV market will rely on new phone deployments, iSuppli said, estimating TV-capable phones will only represent 12 percent of the market by 2010.