From Apple to Orange: How MNOs can Make Mobile Music Profitable in an iTunes World

Publication Date: March 2007

Report Details:
Total pages: 31  |  Exhibits: 10  |  Case studies: 4  |  Report Excerpt

Report Overview:
The mobile music market shows signs of significant promise for coming years. One key indicator of the latent potential comes from the number of mobile music-enabled handsets that shipped in 2006. Nokia shipped 80 million music-enabled devices in 2006 and Sony Ericsson a further 60 million. Apple, by comparison, shipped 39 million iPods in 2006 and has shipped 66 million units total since 2004.

This report focuses much on the way the Internet model for legal digital music consumption has sculpted mobile models to date, how these models are not designed around the requirements of mobile operators, and what changes need to be made to ensure that mobile music is a leading revenue generator and driver of data consumption for MNOs in the coming years.

Key Questions Answered:

• Do over the air (OTA) models work?
• Can MNOs compete with Apple’s $0.99/track model?
• Why do subscription based music services make the most sense for mobile operators?
• Why will Apple have an uphill struggle selling the iPhone beyond initial early adoption?
• Will MNOs be cut off the mobile music value chain?
• Should DRM be dropped, as suggested by Steve Jobs?
• What will the opportunity for both subscription based and ‘a-la-carte’ mobile music services be worth in 2011?

Audience
Operators
This report will clarify the key issues arising from the evolution of mobile music. The report covers a variety of case studies highlighting ways in which operators have begun diversification from the original Internet download model to more innovative systems better suited to the mobile domain. Operators will gain valuable insight from perspectives in this report derived from interviews with stakeholders at the cutting edge of mobile music development.

Record Labels and Media Companies
This report details changes happening now and over the next few years in the mobile music landscape. The implications of shifting business models in the mobile domain will have repercussions for all forms of digital content, particularly given the rapidly expanding market being enabled by multimedia mobile handsets. Mobile music will be a bellwether service, acting as an early indicator of new trends and patterns of consumption. Record labels and media companies need to understand the shifts in market dynamics and plan accordingly.

Hardware Vendors
The report outlines likely operator requirements in terms of hardware, software and network capabilities in order to maximize revenues from mobile music services. Hardware vendors will benefit from a clear understanding of the operator value proposition and the likely direction that mobile music services will steer future content and handset requirements.

Financial Institutions and Venture Capitalists
This report provides a thorough grounding in the salient issues facing mobile music today and charts a means of generating sizeable revenues. Financial institutions need to understand the dynamics of mobile music consumption to assess forthcoming opportunities in the sector.

Download Report Excerpt

For more information about this report, please contact our Sales team at +1 617 494 1515 or sales@pyr.com

Author: Nick Holland, Senior Analyst