Report: Global SMS Revenues May Dip

Researchers at Informa Telecoms & Media estimate that worldwide SMS revenues will fall by $23 billion by 2018

Over the next five years, annual SMS revenues will dip to $96.7, which is down from the estimated $120 billion in revenue expected for 2013.

Researchers point to “the continuing adoption and use of over-the-top (OTT) messaging applications in both developed and emerging markets as the reason why.”

“By region,” explains Craig Galbraith of Billing and OSS World, “Asia Pacific is forecast to experience the highest drop in annual SMS revenues over the forecast period, falling from $45.8 billion in 2013, to $38 billion in 2018.”

Of the five dozen global markets analyzed by Informa in the new report, SMS revenues are on the decline almost everywhere. However, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria Turkey, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates will likely see growth for a few more years until the slowdown commences in these particular regions.

“Although we are forecasting a decline in SMS revenues, due largely to the well-documented competition from OTT players, the diverse messaging market provides so many complementary use-cases that it would be naïve to think that SMS has no future role to play,” says Gareth Sims, head of forecasting at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Informa’s new report can be accessed here.